Alvis and the Void
by FlameOf
Summary: When the 'Springtime Familiar Summoning' ritual comes along, Louise calls for a familiar that is wise, powerful and divine. Well, she gets exactly what she wished for and more. Xenoblade spoilers inbound, you have been warned. Potentially OOC Alvis if you don't share similar headcanon. (on hiatus)
1. Prologue

Prologue: AI meets Zero

* * *

Solitude.

That's all there was for the AI interface following the death of Zanza and recreation of the universe.

And yet, he didn't mind it.

Standing alone in the Sentient Genesis, the silver eyed Homs watched over the newly born world in place of the person who had created.

"_Tell me your decision for the future of this world."_ the Homs remembered himself saying, flashing back to what was both mere moments and an eternity ago.

"_I won't decide."_ another voice rang out in his head, this one he remembered to be associated with the blonde haired Homs who remade the world. _"The future should be decided by each and every person in the world. And so, what I..."_ the blonde hesitated. _"No, what we wish for is..."_ looking up, the blonde tossed the clear blue sword in his hand up high. _"A world with no gods!"_

The memory ended, and the silver eyed Homs smiled as he looked back unto the world.

"Perhaps, this too was decided by the passage of fate." he muttered to the void around him.

And so he continued to watch over the world in peace.

A peace soon broken by a silent voice.

Curious, the AI strained his ears to hear, while he couldn't make out what was being said, he could tell the owner of the voice was female, and at least 16 at that.

Smiling slightly, the AI raised one hand into the air and began to absorb green streams of energy as it started to spiral towards him. "I suppose this could get interesting." he said to himself, as he began to walk in the direction of the voice.

* * *

The Magic Academy, located within the kingdom of Tristain on the world of Halkeginia, was bustling with excitement.

For those who, in the present year have been promoted to second year students, it was known as the 'Springtime Familiar Summoning' ritual, almost a rite of passage for the students at the academy.

All were overjoyed to partake, and even more so when they passed, save for the strawberry blonde girl who has yet to attempt.

Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, otherwise known simply as 'Louise the Zero', has never been able to properly cast magic. The results, one might say, are catastrophic.

"Alright, next up is miss Louise Vallière, please step towards the magic circle and attempt your summoning." a balding, middle aged man named Jean Colbert announced. Nervously, Louise took several steps forward, despite the taunting remarks behind her.

Taking deep breathes to calm her raging heart, she closed her eyes and began the incantation.

"My servant that existed somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, I wish from very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!" she recited, holding her wand up to the sky. For a few moments, nothing happened, then the area in front of her exploded, blowing her and every other student back.

For several moments following, there was silence, followed by the taunting from the other students, addressing her as 'a complete failure' and such, yet unlike past times, Louise couldn't bring herself to respond. She was heartbroken. Until...

"That was a rather unconventional and, might I add, flattering way of getting someone out, wasn't it?" someone spoke from the crater, catching everyone's attention. From the smoke stepped out a human figure, male, tanned skin, silver hair and eyes, a navy blue jacket atop a white vest, dark pants and white heeled boots. Slung over his back was a curved, clean steel sword, looked to be designed for one hand. "But I suppose it is one way of doing thing." he commented, brushing dirt from his hair.

Silence once again filled the area, before every student save for Louise burst into laughter.

"That's just like the Zero, isn't it?" one student shouted.

"Yeah, of course she would summon some commoner!" another added.

"Shut up!" Louise shouted, only to no avail. "I only made a slight error, that's all! Mr. Colbert!"

"Yes?" Colbert responded, whilst trying to get the students to stop laughing.

"Please, let me try the summoning one more time!" she pleaded.

"I cannot allow that, miss Vallière." he stated sternly. "The 'Springtime Familiar Summoning' is a sacred rite, so like it or not, you have to take him."

_'That sounds intimate'_ the newcomer thought, staring from student to student.

Louise began to blush at the thought of continuing the rite. "With... him?" she questioned, shaking her head in defeat, she walked over to the silver haired boy with an angry look in her eyes. "Hey."

"Yes?" he responded nonchalantly.

"You should consider yourself lucky, normally you'd go your whole life without a noble doing this."

"That entirely depends on what 'this' is." he said with a shrug.

Huffing, Louise grabbed the boy by the collar, and pulled him down to her height. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the five elemental powers; bless this humble being, and make him my familiar." she recited, before planting a kiss on the boys lips. He was startled, to say the least, but by no means was he embarrassed.

Pulling away, Louise took several steps back. "It is done."

The boy stared at her in silence before noticing rune being carved into his left hand. "Well, I can say that's never happened before, but last time a noble kissed me was better, and that was a male." he said almost matter of factly, bewildering all the students.

"Wha, you kissed a lord?" Louise shouted in shock. "But your just a commoner!"

"I assure you, by the time you get to know me, you will think I am less than 'common'." he responded with the slightest sass in his voice. "That being said, it was a fruitful and mutual relationship that lasted three years." he added, remembering his time within the walls of the imperial capital of Alcamoth.

"Well, regardless..." Colbert stated, attempting to change the subject. "These runes you have on your hand are some I've never seen before. Tell me, what is your name?"

"I am the soul of the Monado, I have existed since both the beginning and the end, but to you, my name is Alvis." he spoke, lazily waving one hand in greeting.

"Alvis... such a peculiar name." Colbert mused, sketching down the runes on Alvis' hand. "In any case, I'm going to need to look into these runes, the rest of you, go back to class." he added as he turned on his heels, and gentle rose into the air.

Staring at the teacher and students, Alvis placed a hand on his chin in thought. "Curious, to think there would exist a world in which Homs would be able to manipulate Ether to this level." he surmised, glancing at the strawberry blonde next to him. "You said your name was Louise, correct? Tell me, where might I be?"

Rather than respond immediately, Louise glared hard at Alvis. "Where do you get off, talking so casually to a noble?" she spoke venomously.

"I assure you, I get off on no such things." he responded with a shrug. "In any case, I feel you are at least 60 years too young for me to see you as my superior, I only really came along to ease the boredom that comes with over-watching a universe."

"Overwa... what?" Louise once again recoiled in shock, just who was this Alvis?

"It is as you may have already guessed. I am of a different world to you, so I could do with someone giving me a decent summary of how this world works, if you would be so kind." Alvis elaborated, giving a slight bow to Louise.

Blushing slightly at the sudden show of courtesy, Louise coughed lightly before responding. "Well, since you asked nicely, but you have to agree to telling me of your world too. Understood, Familiar?"

"Crystal."

* * *

Several hours passed, which Alvis and Louise spent in her room, explaining to each other how their respective world operated.

"So, you mean to tell me..." Louise started, placing two fingers on her forehead. "That your world previously existed on the bodies of two titans, and that due to the actions of seven people with a fancy sword, it was remade to be more in line with how other worlds work?"

"Essentially." Alvis responded.

Louise continued to stare at Alvis in disbelief. How could such a world exist that commoners could change it in just the blink of an eye? "And you also mean to tell me, that you had a relationship with a noble back in this world, before you became its god?"

"Technically I'm the manager. Or secretary, if you prefer. But yes, I did have a brief relationship with a person of high stature, and I assure you, it was mutual."

"... So you're a homosexual then?" Louise asked almost accusingly.

"Asexual, actually. I don't actively seek out physical relationships." He responded, this time shooting Louise a light glare. "And I would appreciate it if you didn't speak so poorly of people who are different, be it social stature, sexuality, race or a CTSAD."

"A what?"

"A 'Condition That's Specified As Different'. Honestly, how far up is that stick of yours?"

Ignoring the last comment, Louise decided to move the conversation to a different topic. "So, you said that you were only here to ease your boredom, what does that mean for the Familiar contract I placed on you?"

"It means that with the level of Ether energy that I currently possess, I can easily render the contract null and void, and return to by daily business at any time I want."

At hearing those words, Louise couldn't help herself from laughing at that. "Please, a commoner like you could never pull something as flashy as a contract nullification off in your wildest dreams."

Alvis chuckled at this, finding the girls ignorance amusing. "Regardless of that, I shall leave you to your nightly tasks, I wish to explore the campus of your magic school a little more." he said as he walked to the door.

"Fine, do what you like, but be sure to wake me up by dawn." Louise huffed.

Closing the door behind him, Alvis simultaneously let out a sigh and a chuckle. "Seems things will be fun while I'm in this world." he muttered, before his eyes started glowing blue, and images began to flow into his mind.

_Alvis stood from the port side of an airship, overlooking the kingdom of Tristain, behind him stood Louise, and some people who he recognised from the student body. Off in the distance was what seemed to be a floating island._

_The scene changed, and now Alvis was in front of two larger women, one with similar hair to Louise, and the other a simple blonde. The blonde was yelling silently at Alvis, and he could only tell that it had something to do with Louise herself, whom seemed to be standing behind him._

_Another scene change, this time to something he did know. Behind him was what seemed to be the floating island from the first vision, and before him stood a colossal being of natural origin. A being he recognised as the Bionis, where he and every other species lived before the universe was remade._

Sight returning to him, Alvis looked towards the end of the hall he stood in and out the window. "Seems fate has much in store for me this time around." he said, before turning to go down the stairs.

* * *

**A/N: Guess who's not actually dead? That's right, this guy!**

_**Alvis: I don't suppose you could do this without the needless commentary, Sir Author?**_

**Author: I could, but where'd the fun in that be?**

**But regardless, this section, and sometimes even the parts before the fic itself actually start, will be used for commentary from myself and Alvis, as you're no doubt aware now.**

_**Alvis: Quite so, seeing as this is the first Fanfic that the Author has actually been motivated to write in who knows how long. Also considering that there will no doubt be some things that need explaining on our behalf.**_

**Author: Exactly, so be expecting mostly facts about my personal headcanon being used here, as well as some late-game humour.**

**To start things off will be how I imagine Alvis to be personified following the events of Xenoblade Chronicles. To me, Alvis is a mildly sassy, Asexual guy with the habit of getting on other peoples nerves, while simultaneously flattering them.**

_**Alvis: As Louise said, I get some kicks out of it.**_

**Author: And as a little bonus, there is the shipping hint that was dropped twice within the chapter. I won't say who it is specifically, but if you've played Xenoblade at least up to Alcamoth.**

_**Alvis: And if you haven't, why are you even here?**_

**Author: Then you can probably guess who it is.**

**But for now, We leave you fantastic readers with the prologue of 'Alvis and the Void', till next time!**

_**Alvis: Which shouldn't be too far away, since the Author only has classes on Mondays to Wednesdays.**_


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Ardent and Bronze

* * *

Alvis woke with a light yawn. Gazing around the room, he reminded himself of the situation he was in. "I suppose dreaming is too out of the question for me." he muttered, glancing at the sleeping figure of Louise in the bed.

Contrast to her vicious demeanour, her face looked serene while she slept, it was almost as if she had two separate personae, and Alvis couldn't help but think back to his time in Alcamoth, when he was occasionally asked to awaken a young Melia.

Immediately after his recollection, Alvis drew the curtains and flung the bedsheets off.

"What's going on?" Louise asked in a tired daze.

"It would be the daily phenomenon that is know simply as 'the morning'." Alvis responded with a smirk. "You're clothes for today have already been lain out on the desk. I shall be outside waiting for you to prepare yourself."

"Hold it." she interrupted. "A noble doesn't dress herself when there is a servant available." she attempted to explain, only for it to be somewhat dragged out.

"And yet, you don't have the capabilities to stop me should I walk out this door, not to mention my job with the last noble line I served was not as an on-demand butler." with his second long speech for the day finished, Alvis stepped out side and propped himself on the wall next to the door.

"Well, it seems Louise has summoned quite the rebel." a seductive voice spoke from the side. Alvis pivoted to see the tanned, well endowed figure of a student with red hair.

"I do not suppose it would be too much to ask for your name, milady?" Alvis asked, putting on fake manners.

"My, aren't you the gentlemen." she responded. "I am Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst. My runic name is 'Kirche the Ardent'."

"Ardent? So I take it you're a fire mage then?"

"You are a sharp one."

"Just be careful not to burn out too quickly, a camp fire that is constantly lit does damage to the surrounding forestation." Alvis took a glance at the lizard like creature that walked out from behind Kirche.

Taking notice of Alvis' eye sight, Kirche grinned boastfully. "I see you've noticed my Familiar, Flame. He's a salamander. See, look at the tail. A flame this vivid and large means it's without a doubt a salamander from the Fire Dragon Mountains! It's like a brand! Collectors can't even put a price on these!" she explained with glee while puffing out her chest, almost as if she were trying to make Alvis change sides.

"You are trying to impress me, aren't you?" Alvis asked flatly, making Kirche stumble as Louise walked out of her room. "I assure you it will not work, I have seen many creatures on a far grander scale to your pet, and have even had the displeasure of working for one who called himself a god."

Kirche stared at the silver haired man as he walked away with his master, completely flabbergasted by how easily he shrugged her off. Yet rather than seeing this as denial, she took it as a challenge.

* * *

"I have to say commoner, I'm surprised." Louise commented as she and Alvis walked to the dining hall.

"Please use my name, and how so?" he responded dryly.

"Usually, that broad has the male body wrapped around her grimy little fingers, yet you managed to walk away."

"We've had this conversation already, Vallière. So I'll just sum it up in one sentence: physical appeal does not work on me in the same way as it does on those children." Alvis explained, feeling irritated. "Though I must ask, why did the student body yesterday address you as 'Louise the Zero'?"

Louise merely shot a glare at Alvis. "It's none of your concern, commoner." she huffed.

"I'd like to think it is my concern, is it not important for someone to know the extent of their leader, so they know just what is needed of them?" Alvis asked. "After all, there are many different ways that the name 'Zero' can be taken."

"Like what? I doubt you can give it any form other than 'failure'."

Alvis chuckled at the statement. "Oh, you'd be surprised." he began as the stepped out of the tower the students used for their rooms. "For starters, 'Zero' can easily refer to the lack of anything, a void, as it were. Following suit, 'Zero' can in turn refer to infinite potential, an unknown factor, uncharted territory, if you would."

Louise was at a loss of words. Never had anyone, yet alone a commoner, tried to give her a positive outlook for her insult of a runic name. "I guess I was wrong about you, co... er, Alvis." she said, blushing as she spoke his name.

"Think nothing of it." he responded casually, before turning to her with a serious look. "Seriously though, don't think too much into it. I'm not too partial to people thinking they are in my debt."

In a strange silence, they continued to walk.

Though unbeknownst to Louise, Alvis found his sights leaving the time period.

_Alvis saw what looked to be a large room filled with students, presumably a class room of sorts. Each student was seated behind a desk that rose as it got further back in the room, on the lowest level, where each desk was facing, stood an older woman dressed in a purple robe, and by her side was Louise, and before both of them, atop a table was a piece of coal. Taking a glance at the other students, Alvis noted how worried they looked._

_Raising her wand to the coal, Louise began chanting what Alvis presumed was a spell._

_Which promptly caused the coal to explode._

Returning to the present, Alvis glanced at Louise in wonder. Had she intended for that explosion? _'No.'_ he thought. _'That didn't seem like something anyone would plan. I'll guess that's what the other students meant by Zero.'_ "Tell me, Louise, what sort of perks come with a Familiar contract?" he asked his companion.

Louise looked at Alvis confusingly, but didn't press why. "Well, a Familiar acts as a kind of extension to the mages power, sight, and hearing. The mage can empower the Familiar, and I presume that it can work the other way as well."

"I see..." Alvis thought over. _'If a Familiar is, in fact, capable of providing power to their mage, then this plan could just work.'_ Alvis nodded to himself, as they entered the dining hall.

* * *

Time passed, and Alvis was seated within the class room he saw in his vision. Everything was as he saw, the older woman in the purple, whom he found out to be named Chevreuse, explaining the practice of changing matter into something different, after demonstrating herself by changing a small clump of coal into copper. Several moments later, and the displeasure of overhearing an argument between Louise and another student called Malicorne, Chevreuse called Louise to the front to attempted to demonstrate this magic.

"Louise, I want you to do me one favour." Alvis whispered as she went to stand up. "Put your whole heart into this, and it should work out." Confused, yet grateful all the same, Louise nodded as Alvis patted her on the shoulder, no one but him noticing his hand glow faintly green.

The next scene played out exactly as he saw prior, Louise began chanting her spell, while Alvis discretely began to manipulate the energy he had transferred to her. As he did so, he remembered what Chevreuse was saying about the five elements of magic used in this world. _'If my hunch is correct as to why Louise fails so much, then this should do the trick.'_ he thought, smiling inwardly.

Glancing at the worried looks of the other students in amusement, Alvis made a small hand motion under the desk he sat at just as Louise finished the spell. The coal was covered in a light puff of smoke, which caused some students to sigh in relieve, and others began to snickering. The smoke cleared, and...

What was left was a chunk of copper the same size as the coal.

Save for Chevreuse, everyone was shocked, including Louise. "Well, now you see? Hard work does pay off in the long run." Chevreuse stated, directing the comment specifically at Kirche, who had attempted to stop Louise from casting.

Louise looked at Alvis, who merely placed a finger on his lips, with an almost cheeky grin on his face. Chevreuse allowed Louise to sit back down as to finish the class, yet none of the students were able to snap out of their trance. "Did you have something to do with that?" she whispered as she sat down, hoping no one else could hear them.

"Would you hate me if I did?"

"If I wasn't trying to keep up an image, I'd probably be hugging you." Louise blushed at the thought of herself doing something so intimate. "But how did you do it?"

"What sealed the deal was when I heard about the elements, specifically the 'void' one. But we'll talk about that stuff later, for now just know that I can do more than just aid in spells with the amount of Ether stored in my body."

Louise had many questions, yet decided to leave them at that.

* * *

Within the room designated as the Headmasters office, Colbert and the elderly headmaster called Osmond were discussing the matter of Alvis, and in particular, the runes on his left hand.

"So, Mister Colbert, do you truly believe that these runes are the same as the ones used by the Familiars of Founder Brimir?" Osmond asked, stroking his white beard.

"Undoubtedly." Colbert responded, determination etched into his eyes.

"I see. Well, for now we'll keep this between us, alright?" Osmond stated, to which Colbert nodded.

* * *

"So, let me see if I got this right." Louise said, clutching at her forehead. "This Ether energy you have, which was generated in vast quantities because of the creation and recreation of your universe, and what you have been able to freely manipulate, is what allowed me to use that spell."

"Essentially, yes." Alvis responded, sitting with his back against the wall of the yard just outside the dining hall. "And if you think about it, it's technically not cheating, given I'm just your Familiar."

"Well, yeah, but..." Louise tried to continued, but the entire situation was utterly confusing. "It still doesn't make sense! How did this Ether stuff work so well?"

Alvis chuckled as the girl pulled at her hair. "It's really quite simple. Ether, at least in my world, is the base compound of all life, and is pure energy that can be manipulated. When I heard the teacher talking about elements, it got me thinking, what if the reason you can't cast spells properly, is actually because you can't use those elements?" he stated, only causing more confusion for the poor girl. "Naturally, any other person would just look at your situation and say 'this kid can't use magic', but if that were the case, then the result shouldn't be an explosion."

"I've been meaning to ask, how did you know about that?"

"Two reasons." he responded, holding out two fingers to elaborate his point. "First, when you summoned me, I presume there was an explosion, and second, and the most important one at that, I can see the future."

Louise just stared at the white haired boy in utter bewilderment. "I want to say that can't be true, but knowing you, I'll believe it." Louise sighed in exhaustion. "I'm going to cool down for a bit, you just... do whatever you do." she added as she walked off.

Leaning back against the wall, Alvis attempted to doze off, had it not been for the unnecessary noise caused by several boys.

"So, Guiche! Who are you going out with now?" one of them called in a high pitched voice, making Alvis' brow twitch slightly.

Opening one eye, he saw a couple of boys crowding around a slender blonde boy, presumably the one they called 'Guiche'. "Go out?" Guiche repeated in faux hurt. "I hold no one woman in such special regard. After all, a rose blooms for the pleasure of many."

_'Talk about presumptuous.'_ Alvis thought in an unusual amount of bitterness. As he thought that, he noticed a small vile of purple liquid drop from the blondes pocket. Guessing it was probably not his, but a gift from someone, Alvis grinned almost sadistically. _'This might prove to be fun.'_ he thought as he picked up the vile and tapped Guiche on the shoulder. "Pardon my interruption, but you appear to have dropped this." he said, holding the vile to Guiche, yet still within view of the other boys.

Guiche looked from the vile to Alvis and back again. "This is not mine, what are you talking about." he tried to deny, yet the other boys recognised it.

"Oh, isn't that perfume Montmorency's?" the chubby one said, making Alvis realise who had the squeaky voice.

"So it's Montmorency you're seeing, is that it?" another one prodded, as Alvis placed the vile in Guiche's hand.

"No wait, listen to me. I'm saying this for the sake of her reputation, but..." as Guiche was about to say more, a girl, who wore a brown cloak and had been listening in to the conversation for a while, walked over to Guiche's seat.

She was a cute girl sporting chestnut-colored hair. According to the colour of the cloak she wore, she was a first year student.

"Sir Guiche..." and with that, she started crying uncontrollably. "I knew it, you and Miss Montmorency are..."

"They're misunderstanding. Katie, listen. The only person I hold in my heart is you..."

But the girl called Katie slapped Guiche's face as hard as she could. "That perfume you dropped from your pocket is more than enough proof! Goodbye!"

Alvis, despite his usual demeanour, tried hard to not laugh at the boy as another girl walked up to Guiche, this one with blonde hair tightly rolled and a furious look on her face. "So that's how it is, making moves of first year students?" she said, trembling with anger.

"N, no, Montmorency, that's not it..." Guiche attempted to save, but was interrupted with a swift punch to the face.

"You dirty liar!" she shouted, before storming off.

_'And my work here is done.'_ Alvis thought as he turn to leave.

"Stop right there, peasant." Guiche proclaimed, recovering from the punch. "Because of your thoughtless actions, the reputations of two fine ladies have been damaged. How do you plan to take responsibility?" he asked, arrogantly glaring at Alvis.

"It's hardly my fault that you chose to be a two-timing playboy. This isn't my circus, nor are you my monkey." Alvis responded with a shrug, causing Guiche to tremble with anger and the other boys to burst into laughter.

Guiche, while still terribly enraged, tried to maintain composure. "It seems someone's going to have to teach you your place, commoner." he spoke with venom. "I'll be waiting at the Vesti Court, come if you think you can take me on." as he finished, Guiche turned and walked away, followed by his still giggling friends.

"Are you out of your mind?" Louise shouted as she and a maid came up to Alvis from behind.

"So you saw all that?" Alvis asked casually, before noticing the maid. "And I don't think I know you, miss."

"She's Siesta, a maid who works here, but that's not important!" Louise continued to shout. "Look, if you try to apologise, then maybe you won't have to fight him."

"I'd only agree if I wanted to save him the humiliation." he responded. "There's only one request I have for you and Miss Siesta, can you at least do that for me?"

At a loss of words, Louise sighed in defeat. "Fine, what is it?"

"Get my sword, I'll be going ahead to this Vesti Court." Alvis stated as he turned to walk the direction he saw Guiche going.

* * *

Reluctant, yet knowing there's no way out of this situation, Louise and Siesta climbed the stairs of the tower, before entering the door that lead into Louise's room.

"I just can't believe that guy, doing such careless things." Louise grumbled, grabbing Alvis' sword and attempting to lift it, only to struggle with its weight.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Siesta asked, helping Louise carry the claymore. "I know next to nothing about him, only that you summoned him here."

"He's either a complete idiot, a genius, crazy, or some mix of the three." she responded as they made their way down the stairs, looking out the window to notice the crowd forming in the Vesti Court.

* * *

The Vesti Court was bustling with noise, a huge crowd gathered around two boys facing each other. On one side was the blonde mage Guiche, and opposite him was the silver haired Alvis.

"I commend you for coming to your own funeral, commoner." Guiche taunted, causing the crowd to cheer for him.

"Fitting words for your epitaph." Alvis retorted. "And besides, I've killed far greater enemies in the name of far less."

The crowd fell silent as both boys stared each other down, Guiche anticipating the first move, and Alvis already knowing it. With one swift movement, Guiche swung his rose, and a petal flew out, landing on the ground.

Which transformed into the armour-clad shape of a female.

"I suppose I should explain it to you, my runic name is 'the Bronze'. Guiche the Bronze. You're real opponent shall be my Valkyrie!" Guiche boasted.

In a casual fashion, Alvis walked up and examined the Valkyrie, taking note of its craftsmanship. "I guess Bronze is right, this is third rate material." he stated, delivering what looked like a swift jab to the Valkyrie's chest, and reducing it to a fine powder. Guiche's jaw dropped, as he watch his Valkyrie get destroyed. "Deflated, just like your ego." Alvis taunted, brushing dust from his hand.

"You arrogant commoner." Guiche gritted his teeth, as he flung many rose petal out, making a total of seven Valkyrie's, and immediately sending them to attack.

Smirking, Alvis willed his consciousness to view the future. Once he returned to the present, he proceeded to make small dodges, letting the Valkyrie's clash into one another.

Within the crowd, Kirche watched in amazement as Alvis stepped from side to side, almost as if he were dancing around the bronze soldiers. "Incredible, how is he moving fast enough to dodge seven opponents at once?" she asked, glancing to her blue haired friend at her side. "Do you have any idea, Tabitha?"

"Foresight." she responded flatly. "He knows what the next move will be."

About one minute had passed before Louise and Siesta finally showed up with Alvis' sword. "Alvis!" they both called, catching everyone's attention. Without any more words, they flung the sword towards him.

Smirking once again, Alvis back flipped over the Valkyrie charging him from behind, catching the sword mid-flight, and brought it down as he landed, cleaving the bronze soldier in two. "Right then." he started, noticing the runes on his left hand glowing. "My turn."

Alvis charged the nearest Valkyrie, cleaving it in half before moving to the next, until the Court was littered with bronze corpses. In a panic, Guiche attempted to summon more, only to have his rose kicked from his hands, and Alvis' claymore pointed at his throat. Trembling, Guiche fell to his knees. "I surrender." he whimpered, tears forming in his eyes.

"Good call." Alvis stated, slinging the sword over his shoulder. "Let this also be a lesson for you, arrogance will get you nowhere. If you want a girl, then find the one who's right for you, and stick to her." he added, before walking off towards Louise and Siesta.

"Ok, I'll admit, that was pretty good." Louise said first, glancing at Guiche. "Though there's a good chance we'll all get in trouble for this."

"Eh, what happens happens." Alvis shrugged as he noticed the crowd start to part, as an elderly man walked towards them, followed by Colbert and a green haired woman.

"Louise Vallière and Alvis." the old man started. "Please, come with me." Turning around, he walked back the way he came, soon followed by his escorts and the two he called on.

"So, who's he then?" Alvis asked, keeping his eyes on the three ahead of him and Louise.

"He's Osmond, the headmaster of this academy." she responded, looking somewhat terrified.

"The top dog here, huh? This should be interesting." Alvis commented, curiosity getting the better of him.

Alvis soon noticed that Colbert had broken off from them, telling Guiche and three others to come with him to discuss certain matters, two of them Alvis recognised to be Kirche and the one be believed to be Montorency, though he didn't know the blue haired girl that was with them.

Entering the main building of the academy, Alvis had a strange feeling boiling up inside him.

For the first time in a long while, he felt excited.

* * *

**A/N**

**Author: Welp, finally done with this chapter, only took longer than I planned.**

_**Alvis: That much is obvious, Creator. You did say last time it shouldn't take too long to write this chapter.**_

**Author: Yeah, yeah, sue me. I thought it wouldn't but even with only having three classes a week, I've still got a lot of work to keep up with. Not to mention I'm doing other projects of my own on the side of this.**

_**Alvis: Well regardless, we're here now, so let's just talk about what we need to.**_

**Author: Fine then. Well, to start this off then, I'll just talk about the expected length and direction of this story.**

**To get down to brass tacks, this story will go on its own sort of tangent for some parts, whilst keeping to the original Zero no Tsukaima story in other parts, but mostly it'll be following its own story.**

**As for what happens after this little project is done? Well, while the direct cross over between Xenoblade and Zero no Tsukaima will be at an end whenever that happens, it won't be the last you here from Alvis and his adventures.**

_**Alvis: Come the end of this story, I will be partaking in new adventures in a sort of continuum of the Author's own deciding. So essentially, this story is the first of a series that the Author will hopefully be able to put together. As for how long this series will go, it's any ones guess.**_

**Author: Exactly, so even when 'Alvis and the Void' comes to an end, the journey of Alvis will continue.**

**But with all that said, let's wrap this up here. Tune in next time when the plot finally starts to unravel!**

_**Alvis: And this time we probably won't give a specific, or even halfway specific date for when the next chapter will be, since the Author will need to be working on other things as well.**_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Masters and Marshes

The headmaster's room was roughly 3/4ths the size of a classroom at the magic academy, with a single large desk in the middle of the room. On one side of the desk sat Osmond, next to him, his secretary, Longueville, and the teacher Colbert. On the other side of the desk stood Alvis, hands in pockets, and at his side, Louise, whom was trembling with fear as to what was going to happen.

Osmond was the first to speak up. "You can relax, young Louise, neither of you are her to be punished." he said, stroking his beard.

"Much to the chagrin of your secretary, I'm guessing." Alvis commented, glancing to his side to see his master relax greatly.

"You wouldn't believe how much so." Longueville responded, pinching the bridge of her nose. "If it were up to me, I'd at the very least be giving you two the biggest detention anyone could think of." the mere mention of that cause Louise to go pale. "But, Old Osmond has things he wishes to discuss with you."

"That is indeed the case." Osmond commented. "The first topic is this: Alvis, it is through extensive research on part of Mr Colbert that we have deduce that you are a Familiar known as Gandalfr."

Louise once again had a look of shock on her face, whereas Alvis looked somewhat passive. "Two things: one, that sentence felt like it had a severe lack of proper punctuation. And two, that sounds like something from an old story I read a long time ago." he stated, maintaining his usual tone.

"Could you not be so flippant about this?" Louise shouted, finally regaining the ability to speak. "The Gandalfr is one of the Familiars summoned by the Founder! And if you're that, then that would mean..."

"Exactly, Louise. You are a wielder of Void magic." Colbert finished. "It's hard to believe, I know. But these are the conclusions we've come to."

Silence once again fell over the room, Louise had shock etched over her face, and Alvis... wore a grin. "I know what your about to say, Alvis, so don't." Louise stated before Alvis had a chance to talk.

"Yeah, yeah, keep ruining my fun." Alvis responded with a sigh. "So, what perks come with the job of this Gandalfr?"

Osmond looked bewildered at the exchange, but continued non the less. "The Gandalfr, also known as 'the Left Hand of God', is the Familiar whose job it is to guard their Void mage while they cast. The ability of the Gandalfr is said to be absolute mastery of all tools meant to be used as weapons, and will also increase the base abilities of the Familiar himself."

Alvis and Louise mused over the information, with Alvis seeming fine by it and Louise still in a bit of shock. "Not to be a complete buzz kill, but I guess there's more you wish to speak with us about?" Alvis spoke after a long pause.

"Indeed there is." Osmond responded. "The main reason we have called you here is because we require a team."

Alvis and Louise both shot up eyebrows. "A team? For what?" Louise asked.

Osmond glanced between Colbert and Longueville before continuing. "In recent times, there have been some... strange occurrences, not only within Tristain, but among the entirety of Halkeginia." he explained. "Not only have strange beasts been appearing seemingly out of nowhere, but entire locations as well, such as forests appearing where there was once none."

"And you want a student and her supposedly legendary Familiar to investigate this?" Alvis asked with a glance to the three older people.

"Under normal circumstances, we would not think of such a thing." Colbert answered. "But, considering all the strange events, which include your summoning, sir Familiar, then we feel it might be worth sending you."

Alvis mused over the information presented, curious on how to proceed in this new world, before his conciousness slipped from the time period.

_Alvis found himself standing in a dreary, humid area, standing alongside six others, people he had seen throughout the past few days. The land around them was murky, the air dense with moisture and fog. Alvis felt like he had been here before, but couldn't quite put his finger on why._

_The image changed, and now Alvis was standing in front of a large structure that seemed out of place in the swampy area. Compared to the murky greens and browns of the rock face and ground, this thing was made of metal, and had clearly been there for a good few years, gathering moss. Strange, considering that Halkeginia was a world without the means to create such an object. It soon hit Alvis just what this thing was; a place he had once called his home._

_The image changed to a white variation of the Sentient Genesis, Alvis couldn't make out much, but he heard a voice, his own voice, talking back to him. _

"_I leave her... in your care..." he heard himself say._

Alvis snapped back to reality, and noticed that the four other people in the room were looking at him oddly.

"Alvis..." Louise spoke up, almost hesitantly. "You were making some... odd sounds just now, weren't you?'

"Apologies, bad habit of mine." he responded casually. "In any case, I think we might just have to take them up on this offer. But on one condition."

"What might that be?" Osmond asked.

"You plan to send us with a small team, are you not?"

"Indeed we are." Osmond responded. "We plan for you to be part of a team of six, is that not to your liking?"

"On the contrary, I am fine with being in a party, however..." Alvis paused. "I'm wanting you to make it a team of seven."

* * *

Time passed, and the duo of Alvis and Louise were making their way to the dining hall, which Alvis had recently learned that it shared his name.

"So let me get this straight." Louise spoke up after a while, looking rather aggravated. "Your condition for going along with their expedition, is that we also bring Siesta with us?"

"It's more to do with both keeping in line with what the passage of fate has shown me, and to avoid any unforeseen events that might prove troublesome later on." Alvis responded with his signature shrug. "Besides, if we're going to be in a party, it's important to at least have one person who knows how to cook." he continued to explain, paying no mind to the glare he was still receiving.

"Let me guess, it's because you have 'seen the future', am I right?" she questioned sarcastically.

"It is, and I am also no stranger to sarcasm, Louise." he shot back with another shrug. "But if your worried about that, then you are going to love to know who the rest of the team is."

As if on cue, Alvis and Louise entered the dining hall to find it relatively empty, save for a small table with four familiar faces seated around it. To say that Louise was surprised by who turned up would be an understatement.

On one side sat Guiche de Gramont and the blonde girl Alvis believed was called Montmorency, and on the other side was Kirche and the blue haired girl Alvis had seen her with a few times throughout the day. As the thought occurred to Alvis, the four turned their attention to the pair and were met with mixed reactions.

Guiche recoiled in fear of Alvis, Kirche squealed in delight, Montmorency huffed in dissatisfaction, and the blue haired girl merely looked in his direction for a second before turning back to her book.

* * *

A few seconds of silence fell over the room, each person seemed rooted to their spot in their pose, which was only broken when the maid Siesta arrived. If she wasn't confused before, she was now.

Minutes passed before everyone was caught up on what they were doing here, and what was going to be happening to them for the next few days.

Silence seemed to be a common trend with these nobles, as even with a topic of discussion, no one seemed willing to speak before Montmorency finally spoke.

"I refuse to be on the same team as these commoners!" she proclaimed rather loudly, making all but Alvis flinch.

"To be fair, if it were up to me, I'd be going on this alone, but as a wise man once said: 'it's dangerous to go alone'." Alvis responded nonchalantly, further aggravating the blonde noble. "And does it really matter to you? Chances are I'm the one who's going to be doing the heavy lifting." he added with a shrug.

As if in response to that, Kirche, whom had been seated next to him, latched on to his arm. "Now, now, Darling, I could do some of that for you." she said seductively. "After watching your duel with Guiche, I'm sure you're exhausted. I could help... alleviate some of that, if you want."

Alvis, with a deadpan look on his face, flicked Kirche's forehead in response. "No, none of that." he told her as he pried her off his arm. "And regardless of what we all feel about being here, we're stuck together for the next few days, so you might as well get over your phobia." he finished, turning back to the blonde girl.

Guiche, whom had remained silent throughout the conversation, finally decided to try to move the topic along. "S, so, what is our plan, sir Alvis?" he stumbled, hoping not to aggravate the Homs.

"Glad to know someone wants to get this done as much as Louise does." Alvis responded with a strange amount of cheerfulness. _'It seems spending time in this world is changing just how my mind comprehends emotion.'_ he added mentally, feeling off with his own emotions. "For today, we're going to rest up, and tomorrow, we'll make our way north-west to one of these 'new areas' that the headmaster has told us about, reports say this one is a swamp of sorts." he explained. "So, any questions?"

Siesta was the first to raise her hand. "Yes, um, why am I being brought along as well?" she asked, which seemed to be on everyone's mind, save for the Homs and Void mage.

"You're coming with us on my request, we need someone with cooking skills to make sure none of us die of starvation." Alvis explained. "And while I may not doubt the abilities of everyone else here, I do question whether or not two of us might think to use some form of potion of 'certain' members of our party." he added, making quick glances to Kirche and Montmorency, whom both looked away quickly. "If that is all, we will meet at the gate to the academy at dawn tomorrow."

And throughout the entire conversation, the blue haired girl known as Tabitha remained silent.

* * *

The rest of the day and the following night passed uneventfully, and at dawn the team of seven had all boarded a carriage, with Alvis taking the reins of the horses pulling it, in an attempt to keep out of the crossfire between four of the students he was travelling with. Beside Alvis sat Tabitha, whom kept to reading her book as opposed to making conversation, save to say it was a smart choice on her behalf, as throughout the entire journey, arguing between Louise, Kirche and Montmorency could be heard.

* * *

The party of seven found themselves on the outskirts of what looked to be swamplands, insects buzzed all around them, the air was heavy and damp, and all around, Alvis was the only one who seemed to be able to tolerate it.

"Jeez, do we really have to come to this horrible place?" Montmorency complained, wiping sweat from her brow. The rest of the party, save for Alvis and Tabitha, seemed to agree.

"It's hardly that bad, in fact, it reminds me of a place from home." Alvis responded casually, looking at some of the trees in the area. "In fact, it's almost scary how similar it is."

"You have these sorts of places in your world? How do humans survive there?" Louise asked, removing her cape for some relieve from the atmosphere.

"Humans don't actually exist in that world, what we have are more resilient people called Homs."

Before anyone else could question further, Guiche flinched. "Did... you guys just hear that?" he asked, pointing towards the line of trees.

As if on cue, three figures emerged from the trees, each resembled a mix between a lizard and human, and wielding twin curved blades. Guiche and the girls, sans Tabitha, screamed in fear, and Alvis' eyes widened in surprise of the creatures.

Despite that, Alvis drew his sword and blocked each one of them flawlessly, twirling around and cutting the head off the closest one, then running his claymore through the second ones chest.

The lizard-man that was left hissed at Alvis, charging him before a series of icicles, fire and an explosion hit it, throwing it a few feet away, before the ground rose in a spike and pierced its chest.

Alvis looked over to his companions, to see Louise, Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche all had their wands/staffs drawn, and still pointing at the beast. "That was well executed, despite the hostilities between you four." he told them as he slung his sword over his back.

"Just what was that creature? I haven't seen anything like it." Guiche asked, looking at the creature with both disgust and intrigue.

"Not from Tristain..." Tabitha plaining said, poking the corpse.

"And I doubt they'd be found anywhere else on Halkeginia, either." Kirche added.

"That's because they are not from this world." Alvis answered, drawing all attention back towards him. "These are a group of Dual Igna, creatures that inhabit the world of the Bionis." he picked up one of the blades the Igna dropped, turning it over. "I knew there was a reason this place seemed familiar, but the question now is, how did it get moved from one world to the other?"

"What are you talking about, Alvis?" Louise demanded.

"This land once belonged to the Bionis, perhaps is was sent here when the world was remade." the Homs explained, placing the blade of the Igna down. "This place is located at the waist of the Bionis, the Rinkō no ji Zatōru, or otherwise called, Satorl Marsh." Alvis moved his hand over the nearby tree, and it was exactly as he remembered it to feel. "Let us press on, we should find somewhere to set camp before the sun dies down."

* * *

The seven progressed through the marshes at a brisk pace, Alvis having to constantly stop to answer questions about the creatures and landmarks they passed, by the time the sun was beginning to set, they had agreed to make camp next to the 'Silent Obelisk'.

"So what happens now? We get an early night?" Montmorency asked, still angry with the humidity.

On the other side of the camp fire they set up, Alvis chuckled. "Not in the least, in fact, since we're here, there's is something I now have the ability to show you." he responded, looking towards the setting sun. "Just give it a few minutes."

And then, true to his word, the sun set, and the atmosphere changed drastically, the humidity was all but gone, the insects asleep, and the trees, for lack of a better description, had grown illuminating leaves. Satorl Marsh had changed from a murky, humid and unpleasant place, to the sort of place you would hear about in fairy tales.

"Ah, it so pretty..." Siesta said in a trance, captivated by the lights.

"Yes, it really is..." Kirche agreed, no signs of innuendos in her voice for once.

"You have this sort of place in your world?" Louise asked.

"We did, once upon a midnight dreary. But alas, when the universe was remade, it was nevermore." Alvis responded. "It's quite a shame, too, the Bionis had so many lovely areas, but if this is not the only one to appear in your world, then there is a chance I could show you them."

"I've been meaning to ask this, sir Alvis, but why was your world remade, as you put it." Guiche asked, finally over his nervousness of the Homs.

"The last god we had was attempting to kill all life, so a group about our size had to put a stop to him." he answered, shrugging as he was wont to do. "I like to think that the leader of that group, the Heir to the Monado, is a good friend of mine."

"What was his name?" Louise asked, surprised that the sassy Homs had people he called friends.

"His name? It was Shulk." he answered, reminiscing about the blonde wielder of the Monado, before a glint of light caught the corner of his eye. "But let's save that story for another day, I think there's something worth investigating over yonder way." he pointed in front of himself, and slightly to his left.

Leaving their camp sight, the group trekked down the hill towards the 'Dark Swamp', where this strange structure was. Compared to the rest of the landmarks, it was out of place, for both Bionis and Halkeginia. "This thing... I saw it in my vision." Alvis commented, running his hand over the mossy surface. "But why, why is it so familiar?" The question has tormented him since he first saw that vision, the Homs knew it, he was sure, but why couldn't he place it?

"Do you think there's a way into it?" Siesta asked, in awe of the size of the thing.

Pondering, Alvis walked over to a particular part of the structure, which looked like it might conceivably be some kind of door. "I think so, it should be right..." he muttered, running his hand over the surface before the wall fell in, having corroded with age. "Not usually my method, but good enough." he stated as he motioned the group inside.

* * *

The inside of the structure was unlike anything the party had ever seen. The inside was free from dirt, moss and any actual signs of aging, despite the way in being so fragile. The walls, floor and roof were pristine white, and with little to no features adorning them.

The party kept silent, until a voice bellowed out of nowhere.

"I have been waiting... for someone to come..." it said, though it sounded off, one could tell it was a male voice, and stranger still...

"That voice, it sounded like Alvis!" Guiche proclaimed, to everyone's surprise.

Alvis, despite his shock at the situation, remained collected, and approached the next door. "Command, identify." he said, seeming familiar with this voice.

"Authorisation required..." it responded.

"Authorisation code input, code word: MONADO." he answered.

"Authorisation accepted, I a..am Advanced Li...Lifelike Virtu..ual Intelli...igence System. You may ca...call me Alvis." the voice answered, with words staggering over themselves.

Then it finally clicked for the Homs. He now knew why this place was so familiar. "Request, what is the purpose of this vessel." Alvis asked the voice, paying no mind to the shocked expressions of his party.

Rather than answer, the door in front of Alvis slid open. "Come forth, for you already kno...know the answer." it responded.

And so the party moved forward, but most were unnerved. "Darling, what was that voice talking about? Who was it?" Kirche asked, looking both concerned and curious.

"As you may have already guessed, this place is not a part of your world, though it was once a part of my original world." Alvis responded cryptically. "This station is where project E.T.H.E.R took place centuries ago, where the universe was first reformed, and the Bionis and Mechonis were created in its place." lights flickered on as the seven walked through the white corridors. "It is also the place where I was created, and that voice is my artificial self. When the universe was first remade, I originally thought that my entirety had been transferred into this body." Alvis looked at his hands to emphasise his point. "Yet it seems it was more like I was copied."

The six that were following Alvis were many different levels of confused, hardly understanding a single word he was saying. "So, to try and summarise it all..." Louise started, placing a hand on her head. "That voice was you, and this is where both you and your world were born?" she questioned, head still hurting from the info dump.

"That would be the best way to put it, yes." Alvis responded as they walked through another door, this one leading to a room lined with control panels, and at the very end was a large window looking out over Satorl Marsh, yet that wasn't the thing that caught everyone's attention.

On the floor of the room were two skeletons, both wearing a cloudy grey lab coat.

The residents of Halkeginia reacted in shock, yet Alvis seemed calm, only the glistening in his eyes betraying his compositor. "System, run a scan and identify how many are currently alive, and I.D the deceased." he ordered, kneeling over one of the skeletons.

The computer at the window end of the room hummed to life, though it sounded weary and old. "Scanning... The deceased are identified as such: scientist Dickson, and scientist Lorithea, co-workers of scientists Meyneth and Klaus." the computer version of Alvis responded. "As of the time of the accident, dating back roughly 2000 years ago, half of the scientists working on project E.T.H.E.R are recorded as deceased."

These words stuck the seven as odd. "Half? Does that mean that the other two are elsewhere?" Louise asked, showing signs of hope.

"Don't be rediculous, Zero. He said that it was 2000 years ago, no one can survive that long." Montmorency shouted at Louise, who showed signs of getting angry, but chose not to act on them.

"Tell me, system, what has become of Meyneth and Klaus?" Alvis asked, his voice strangely tinged with hope.

"As of this moment, I cannot account for scientist Klaus, ho...however..." as the computer responded, a hole in reality began to open, just in front of the window. To Alvis, it looked much akin to the Sentient Genesis, only white. "From the creation of your world, energy was created, which I have used for her." a figure slowly descended from the Sentient Genesis, looking to be a female in her late 20's, with pale, almost the colour of steel, skin and silver hair. Her clothes were much like the ones worn by the skeletons, only looking like they were made just yesterday. Underneath the lab coat, she wore a matching red shirt and skirt, and a leather chocker around her neck.

Alvis was speechless for a change, as the body was slowly placed on the ground by invisible hands. "It is with the last of the energy I have, that I leave her here with you..." the bodiless A.I said, voice becoming quieter as the lights slowly dimmed. "I leave her... in your care... Alvis..." the room was filled with darkness once again, the only light coming through the window from Halkeginia's twin moons.

Tabitha and Guiche were the first to step forward, with Tabitha kneeling next to the new woman, and Guiche stepping next to Alvis. "Are you alright, sir Alvis?" he asked, placing a hand on the Homs' shoulder.

"It's weird, I just witnessed my own death, and yet I feel closure." he responded. "I will be fine, Guiche de Gramont, worry not for me."

"This person, still alive." Tabitha said, checking the pulse of the silver haired woman.

As if in response, the woman stirred from her slumber, opening her grey eyes to meet Tabitha's blue. "Where... am I?" she asked, even that having a drain on her stamina.

"You are save, do not worry." Alvis answered, taking a spot next to her. "It has been quite a while, Lady Meyneth of the Mechonis."

* * *

**A/N**

**Author: Apologies for the abrupt end to this chapter, but this was probably the best spot to do it.**

_**Alvis: Well, you can' win them all, can you, Creator?**_

**Author: Sadly, that's true.**

**Now, I'd just like to state that at the moment, in regards to this story, I'm at a bit of a block.**

_**Alvis: This chapter would have been finished sooner if that wasn't the case, and perhaps we'd also have the next one on the way.**_

**Author: Yeah, so I'll be putting this on hold for the time being, at least until this block is removed from my brain. In the mean time, however, I will be starting some other projects that I've been thinking of, stories that are not necessarily related to this continuity, of Xenoblade in general.**

_**Alvis: Though that doesn't mean he might not write anything Xenoblade related.**_

**Author: Right, but enough about that, lets get into the points within this chapter.**

_**Alvis: Some of you may have noticed a few points where the writing got weird, as in it seemed too abrupt. Those points were where the Author started to hit his block, and needed some way to get the chapter moving again.**_

**Author: And as for the name dropping of Dickson and Lorithia, well, it's not canonically confirmed that they were the other two scientists present on the space station when Klaus/Zanza first remade the universe, the only factually thing about it is that the two were a male and female pair, so I'm just running with this.**

**Anyway, see you all next time, whenever that is!**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Staffs and Saviours

"And so concludes our report." Alvis finished, standing before Osmond, Longueville and Colbert. To his sides, the six he was travelling with the past few days.

Osmond closed his eyes in thought. "I see, so these lands are places that were once a part of this 'Bionis' that you are from, and this woman you call 'Meyneth' is one of the people responsible for the creation of this world?" he surmised.

Alvis' face quickly went from 'deadpan' to 'frown'. "Was there really a need to summarise it? That is literally all I said since we got back." he muttered, his voice only getting picked up by his pink haired master.

"Just try to tolerate it, he's old." Louise whispered back to the Homs, managing not to draw attention.

Grunting in acknowledgement, Alvis decided to move the topic along. "Incidently, headmaster, I feel I must ask what is currently on all our minds." he started, looking as if he were trying to keep calm. "Why is it, the few days we are gone, that this building now has a gaping hole in the side?"

Both Osmond and Colbert began to sweat excessively, while Longueville... seemed strangely calm about it. "Well, you see..." Colbert rubbed the back of his head. "While you were away, we were robbed by Forquet the Crumbling Earth, whom made of with the 'Staff of Destruction'."

The team of seven had mixed reactions to the news; Montmorency, Guiche and Siesta were shocked, Kirche and Tabitha looked more confused if anything, while Alvis and Louise simultaneously face palmed. "Absolutely typical." Louise muttered.

"Ever since I showed up, it's just been one plot point after the other." Alvis commented, before his eyes flashed blue briefly. "Whomever this 'Forquet' is, they've taken the staff to a small hut about an hour's travel from here." the Homs stated blandly.

Despite her best efforts, Longueville flinched ever so slightly, which went unnoticed to all but the Homs. "If you don't mind me asking, how do you know that?" she questioned, keeping a level voice.

_'This is going to sound like an old record.'_ Alvis thought. "It's easy, I have future sight." he told them, anticipating all the oncoming reactions. "Yes, it's the truth. No, I am not kidding. It is in no way related to the magic of this world. I cannot teach it to you. It's complicated. And stop the flirting, Kirche." he shot off in quick succession before anyone had a chance to ask.

The room fell silent, before Osmond cleared his thought to change topics. "Regardless, I'd like to ask once more for your assistance in this matter." he spoke with authority. "This time, I'll let you decide the team, though I must ask you take Miss Longueville with you as well, for protections sake."

"I feel we won't be needing a large group for this one." Alvis responded. "I'll be taking mini Louise, Kirche and Tabitha. The rest will stay here for when Lady Meyneth wakes up." he stated, ignoring Louise stabbing him in the side with her wand.

Siesta felt inclined to ask. "How is it that miss Louise allows you to get away with such nicknames?"

"After a while, you get used to it." both the Homs and noble answered.

* * *

Before the smaller team knew it, they were in a wagon set for their destination, the road bumpy and the noise from the girls grinding on the gears of the secretary and Homs.

"Honestly, how can people so young feel so entitled?" Alvis questioned, rubbing his temple with two fingers. "The High Entia weren't nearly this bad."

"Sometimes I wonder the same thing." Longueville let out a sigh. "We should be arriving in a few moments, we'd best disembark here and go the rest of the way on foot." she shouted at the other passengers.

* * *

Half an hour had passed and the group managed to find the hut, and Longueville had gone off to patrol the perimeter whilst the four were to investigate the hut.

_'Let's see, aproxamently 30 feet from this position to the hut.'_ Alvis thought from the vantage point he and the girls had in the bushes. "There don't seem to be any signs of movement, nor am I sensing anything." he told the girls as he stood up.

"Will it really be save to go in? What if it's a trap?" Kirche asked.

"Well, there's only one way to find out, I guess." the Homs shrugged as he walked towards the hut, followed by Louise and, shortly after, Kirche, while Tabitha kept on the edge of the perimeter.

The moment they entered the hut, they could tell that Forquet had been using it for a while. Even with the dust, there were clear signs of life in recent times, and atop the table in the centre of the room, the strange box seemed out of place.

"That must be it!" Louise exclaimed as she picked up the box, presumably containing the Staff of Destruction.

"That was it? No traps?" Kirche questioned. "Talk about boring."

"Give it a minute." Alvis interjected with a pointed finger, and on cue, the ground started to shake, and the roof was torn off by a giant rock golem. "And now we run."

The three only barely made it outside before the golem destroyed the hut, and Alvis shifted into his battle stance, the runes on his hand glowing as he drew his sword.

The golem brought it's fist down on the trio, in which Alvis deflected it with his blade and the golem was blasted in the face with several fireballs. Louise, still clutching the Staff of Destruction, tried to cast her own spell, only to have it blow up a tree to the side of the golem.

From overhead, blades of wind assaulted the living rock formation. Looking up, the trio saw Tabitha riding a blue scaled dragon. "Is that Tabitha's Familiar?" Louise asked, watching the beast dance through the air.

"You bet it is, Vallière." Kirche answered. "Tabitha managed to summon a rhyme dragon."

The rhyme dragon landed, and Tabitha made a motion for the trio to get on the beasts back. Louise and Kirche got on post-haste, yet Alvis stayed grounded. "Darling, what are you waiting for?" Kirche asked, trying to grab the Homs.

"Sorry, but I'll handle it from here." he told them, nodding to Tabitha as she made the dragon take off from the ground.

"Alvis, what are you doing?" Louise shouted, the only thing stopping her from getting off the dragon being Kirche.

The Homs merely turned around. "For too long, I've been the one on the sidelines, always having to watch and give cryptic advice to the heroes." he said with a strange sense of melancholy. "I have lived for thousands of years, and will live for a thousand more. At least, by being summoned here, I was able to find more meaning in my life." he turned back to face his pink haired master. "Don' go getting the wrong idea, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, I have no intention in dying to such a low level fiend. Just know that in some strange way, I am thankful."

The rhyme dragon reached an altitude that made it too difficult for the golem to attack, so its attention was brought back to the AI. With great ferocity, it brought its arm down on Alvis, whom ducked out of the way swiftly and slashed at its fallen arm, only leaving a small cut by the standards of its size.

In retaliation, the golem seemed to speed up considerably, its punch managing to collide with the Homs, sending him into the rubble of the hut.

"Darling's in trouble! We need to do something!" Kirche shouted as she shot fireballs at the golem, only for the distance to cause them to be rendered obsolete.

_'What should I do? What CAN I do?'_ Louise panicked in her thoughts. _'At this range, even with Alvis' help, spells will be useless... what should I...'_ her attention fell to the box in her hand. _'That's it!'_ fiddling around with the box, she finally managed to pry it open, viewing the contents inside with surprise, before taking it our. "Kirche! Tabitha! I need you two to get me down there!"

* * *

Alvis pulled himself from the rubble, for the first time since his encounter with Shulk in Makna Forest, having wounds on his mortal body. "Heh, I really should have seen that one coming." he muttered, propping himself on his claymore.

"Alvis!" the Homs heard Louise call, glancing up, he watched in amazement, not just at the action, but at the weapon.

Several feet in the air, Louise descended slowly with a strange sword in hand, the entirety of the weapon was red, with light blue lines running up and down the shape, and had a large hollow circle where the guard would be. The weapon was unlike anything of Halkeginian make, and for good reason.

_'That's impossible. Why does she have..?'_ Alvis began to think, but stopped himself when he saw the falling box of the Staff of Destruction.

Louise, despite her somewhat calm outward appearance, was beginning to panic. _'What am I doing? I've never used a sword before!'_ her thoughts echoed. _'At this rate, Alvis and I will both die!'_ panicking thoughts continued to fill her mind, before the circle in her sword started to glow with a calm light.

Just as quickly, the parts of the blade started to move, mechanisms clicked as the front jutting out and the back moving down, and a beam of light protruded from the new gap. A yellow symbol appeared in the circle, and Louise's eyes flashed blue.

As if she knew it was coming, Louise brought the sword up, and managed to block the golems fist, which only sent her flying towards the tree-line, she'd have crashed into them, had it not been for the speed of the Homs.

"Honestly, this is one plot twist after the other." Alvis said, taking the sword from Louise's hand. "And to think that my little master would be able to wield such a sword."

Louise could hardly believe it herself. "Alvis, just what is that thing?" she asked in a whisper.

"It's actually quite a powerful weapon, Louise." he responded, tossing his claymore aside. "In fact, it's so powerful, that the simple fact you can wield it is an amazing feat." the sword flared to life once more, this time more powerful than ever. "I don't know why it's here, and at the present moment, I don't care." the circle flashed a new symbol, and the blade of light became a heavenly blue, and grew to amazing length. "This, Louise..." he raised the sword. "Is the Monado, the sword that can bend reality and fate." the blade fell on the golem, not only cleaving it in two, but completely decomposing the halves.

* * *

Alvis planted the Monado into the ground in front of him, before walking over to Louise. "So now do you understand what the Monado is?" he asked, offering his hand to her, which she took.

"I think so, but it's so complicated." she said with a hint of complaint. "A sword that can bend reality? How can something like that exist?"

Before Alvis could attempt a response, his head was placed between two brown, pillow mountains. "Wow, Darling! I had no idea you were capable of such things!" Kirche proclaimed, crushing the Homs between her mammaries.

"Kirche, please just stop that." Alvis responded. "Besides, we're not done here yet. Isn't that right, Longueville? Or should I say, Forquet?"

Right on cue, Longueville/Forquet walked out of the tree line, taking the Monado from the ground as she did. "Strange, I thought I maintained my cover better than that." she spoke, a new level of venom entering her voice.

"I'm not expected to say it again, am I?" Alvis asked with the classic deadpan.

"Regardless, you dropped your guard, and now the Staff of Destruction is mine!" Forquet began to laugh, only to be cut off by the Monado vibrating. "W, what's happening?"

"Oh, you poor, ignorant child." Alvis tsked. "Did you really think a weapon as strong as the Monado wouldn't have any drawbacks?" the Monado flared to life, and Forquet looked panicked. "Rule number 1: the Monado has its own will, it chooses its users."

On those words, Forquet, or rather, the Monado started to flail around, looking like terrible interpretive dance. A few minutes passed before Alvis, with a sigh, stood up to stop the foolery.

"Are you mad? It's dangerous!" Louise shouted at the Homs, but he shrugged at the worry.

"Relax, there's another reason she won't beat us." he said, noticing Forquet's exhaustion just from holding the blade. The Monado was swung his Alvis' direction, and the girls covered their eyes in fear.

Only for the blade of light to bounce off him harmlessly, even knocking the sword out of Forquet's hands, whom collapsed due to exhaustion.

"Rule number 2 of the Monado: in it's base form, it is unable to harm Homs, or in the case of this world, Humans."

* * *

The four found themselves in the office of Osmond once again, though to be expected, the only one by his side was Colbert. "To think, that my own secretary was Forquet. It is truly a sad day." the headmaster muttered solemnly.

"Yeah, feel sorry for the people there when she did the betraying." Louise murmured. "You sure you didn't hire her for her breasts?"

Rather than attempt to deny it, both Osmond and Colbert sheepishly rubbed the back or their heads, blushing crazily.

Dejectedly, Alvis shook his head. "I can't believe I got punched in the face for these people." he muttered, rubbing his healed, but still sore arm.

Osmond cleared his throat in order to remove his blush. "Regardless, I am glad to know that this matter has been resolved, you all have my thanks."

"Sorry to have to play the sour note, but things are far from resolved." Alvis stated, shocking all but Louise. "Tell me, Osmond, where did you find the Staff of Destruction?"

The old man fell silent, as the atmosphere became heavy. "It was around thirty years ago, I was walking down the road as any other person would do, when I found it stabbed into the ground. I picked it up, then blacked out. The moment I came to, many of the trees in the area were destroyed." he told them, eyes remaining closed.

"Well, that only explains why it's here in the academy." the Homs mentioned. "And seeing as though both Zanza's and Meyneth's Monado's are accounted for, that only leaves the potential of it either being Shulk's, or a new one entirely."

"And how exactly do you plan to find out?" Louise asked. "It's not like we can just travel between worlds."

"Actually, we can." Alvis responded instantly. "I told you, the Monado's for Zanza and Meyneth are both accounted for, and we have a third one here. That alone is more than enough power to tear through the fabric of reality." a thought seemed to occur behind the Homs' silver eyes. "Come to think of it, how is Lady Meyneth doing?"

Colbert stepped up at the question. "She woke up around half an hour ago. Siesta, Guiche and Montmorency are telling her about our world. They should be in the dining hall right now, if you want to talk to her."

"I think we'll do just that, before we plan our next mission." the Homs said, before turning to leave.

* * *

Once more, the group found themselves in the dining hall, which may as well be considered their base of operations. As the Homs and his companions entered the hall, they saw what they had expected to see.

On one side of one of the tables sat Siesta, Guiche and Montmorency, and on the other was Meyneth. Between the four was a lively conversation, with Guiche's attempts to flirt, Montmorency's anger with said flirting, and Siesta doing most of the informing for the Machina.

Keeping his smile, Alvis walked up to the four. "I suppose it's been a while, Lady Meyneth." he said, catching her attention.

"Alvis, I guess it has." Meyneth responded kindly, returning the smile.

* * *

**A/N**

**Author: By the Bionis, we're back!**

_**Alvis: Certainly took your time.**_

**Author: Well, can you blame me? That writers block lasted for half a damn month. And not to mention I've been invested in some of my other projects as well.**

**Regardless of that, I'm at least glad the block's over with, and we can continue this story.**

_**Alvis: In regards to this chapter, it was somewhat shorted than the others due to the Author's aforementioned block, but aside from that, at least there's more plot being developed.**_

**Author: Right, and if you're wondering about the appearance of a Monado here, well, you'll just have to wait until the next chapter, or maybe the one after that, I don't know.**

_**Alvis: As for why Louise was able to wield the Monado, that's easy to explain. Ether, also spelt as Aether, is a classical Greek element, which also refers to Void.**_

**Author: Yeah, so no gaping plot holes at all.**

**So, let's leave the comments from us here for now. Will we find out if this Monado is the same one used by Shulk? Stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Worlds

* * *

The group had once again gathered at the gate of Tristain's Magic Academy, their size now consisting of eight with the addition of Meyneth to the party. Alvis, being the impromptu leader of said party, held the new Monado forward, pointing it at nothing in particular, the glass circle glowing particularly bright.

"You said that you had enough power to travel to different worlds, right?" Louise asked, being at the forefront of the others. "How exactly do you plan to do that?"

"It's very simple, oh little master of mine." Alvis responded, pretending not to notice the strawberry blonde's irritated look. "For now, just stand back and watch." annoyed, Louise did as instructed when the Monado flared to life, and the Homs raised it skywards.

The sword was brought down, and time and space were torn asunder.

Smiling at the new hole in reality, Alvis placed the Monado on his back, parallel to his claymore. "Let us press onwards." he stated calmly, taking the first step into the tear, followed by the rest of the party.

* * *

The Sentient Genesis, a 'world' where everything was capable of existing, where matter and antimatter were one and the same. The 'floor' the party was standing on was merely a concept to keep them from falling endlessly, the 'sky' was perceived as an endless stream of orange as the mortal mind could comprehend it. Alvis has spent countless eons simply standing in this dimension between dimensions, learning about not only his world, but also about the existence of many different worlds. To the Homs, this place was nothing new.

To the Halkeginians, it was a whole other story.

"We'd best not linger here for too long." Alvis said before the humans had a chance to try and analyse the streaming orange.

"If someone with an undeveloped mind tries to comprehend the Sentient Genesis, they're quite likely to go insane." Meyneth added, with one finger pointed as if she were a teacher.

Some of the students wanted to protest that point, yet were stopped by Louise, Guiche and, strangely enough, Kirche, whom didn't make any reference to Alvis being her 'Darling'. _'An interesting development, I'd bet keep tabs.'_ the Homs mentally noted as he led the party forward through the infinity.

* * *

The world that was once an unending sea was unlike anything on Halkeginia, the nature was familiar to them, yet the air carried a different feeling to it. Alvis stepped forward and took a deep breath, seeming to enjoy the different taste. "It's been a while since I last smelled the air of Colony 9, I wonder how everyone's doing." he spoke to himself, looking at the settlement in the distance. "Let us press on, it'll be quite the walk to get to the colony proper."

Unlike the towns in Tristain that the students were familiar with, Colony 9 had wide roads and tall buildings. Walking through the streets were a variety of different human and non-human figures, some looked like Alvis, a lesser amount looked like Meyneth, several were small, fuzzy ball like things that hoped around, and another small amount were white haired human like being with wings on their heads and pointed ears. To call the the Halkeginians surprised would be the pot calling the kettle black.

"And so, we reach our destination, over land, sea, air, time and space." the AI spoke. "Allow me to welcome you all to the home of many, if not all the residents of this world, Colony 9." Alvis turned to face Meyneth. "I believe this is also your first time here as well, is it not?"

Aforementioned Machina/God nodded in response. "Yes, and I am glad to see that my people have been taken kindly to by the beings of Bionis." she responded, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Are those... Elves?" Guiche was the first of the other worlders to talk, asking the question on their minds.

"I suppose it would be similar, but not quite." Alvis started. "The ones you compare to Elves are known as High Entia, they're long lived and more in tune with Ether. The ones that look like you and I are known as Homs, they are much like you humans, only are more adept at survival in harsh environments. There are the ones whom look much like Lady Meyneth, known as the Machina, the former residents of the Mechonis, made of steel and just as long lived, if not more so than the High Entia. And last but not least, there are the Nopon, the merchants of the Bionis." he explained, pointing towards examples of each race as he did. "It shouldn't be too hard to find who we're looking for, so I think we might split up for a while."

Louise was the one to protest. "Wait, you plan to let us just wander around in an unknown world? Are you mad?" she argued, stepping towards the Homs.

"It'll be fine, we'll just meet up by the ocean when we're done, it's not too hard to find." the Homs pointed in a set direction, away from where they came in. "I'll be going alone to find the ones who will be able to help us, what you do from here is your choice, just try not to make too much of a scene." he concluded as he left in a set direction.

The Halkeginians plus Meyneth stood still for several minutes, before said Machina cleared her throat. "Well, I feel the need to visit some people myself, would anyone like to attend with me?" she asked, to which Tabitha, Guiche and Montmorency all raised their hands, and followed her as she walked in another direction to Alvis, leaving Louise, Kirche and Siesta.

Sighing in defeat, the strawberry blonde turned to her current company. "I guess we might as well look around." Louise stated, with nods from the maid and Germanian.

* * *

Unknown, that was how long Alvis had spent away from the Colony, doing his duty as a 'micro-manager' of sorts to make sure the universe was in proper condition.

Walking past stores and people, the Homs arrived at a large building, looking like a kind of warehouse, built for the defence force to protect the people back when there were multiple colonies. This particular entrance before him lead to what was known as the 'Weapon Development Lab', which does exactly what it says on the sign. Reaching behind himself, Alvis grabbed the handles of both his claymore and the Monado, confirming their presence, before entering the lab.

The lab itself was as one would expect, machines lining the walls, a desk filled with books and paper, a large book shelf, yet unlike most labs, this one had a pedestal of sorts in by the back, on it sat a large, crystal blue sword, its design elegant, yet practical, beautiful, yet imposing. That alone erased two doubts from Alvis' head, the first was which lab this was, the second being the existence of the Monado. "Though this still leaves several questions..." the AI mused.

Moving to the desk filled with paper, Alvis picked up a particular stack, the first page having a sketch of the light blue Monado on it. Casually, he flicked through the pages, reading the research.

* * *

The trio of pink, red and black walked from shop to shop, in awe at the variety of merchandise and how it differed from back home. Some shops had a variety of small ornaments, pendants and other jewellery, some had food, while others had strange metal object foreign to the Halkeginians.

Due to these distractions, Louise didn't notice the woman in front of her until they had already collided.

This woman had hair a similar silver to Alvis, was only slightly taller than Louise and had teal eyes, her clothes, while revealing some skin, gave off a sort of elegance, yet that was not where their gaze fell.

Instead, their eyes were focused more on the small pair of wings adorning her head, signifying that she was a High Entia.

"My apologies, I was not properly paying attention." the High Entian spoke politely. "Are you three new to Colony 9? I can't say I've seen you around before."

The trio were at a loss, here they were, in front of a polite stranger of a species they had never so much as heard of before Alvis pointed them out, what were they to do? "I...it's not problem at all, ma'am." Louise stammered, trying to maintain composure while Kirche and Siesta giggled lightly in the background. "Damn that Alvis, he could have at least given some sort of idea on how things work here." she growled lowly.

The High Entia before them looked surprised. "Alvis? You know him?" she asked.

Louise, too, was surprised, but answered anyway. "Yes, that cryptic idiot is my Familiar." was her response. "But how do you know him?"

"So he's still being cryptic, that's no surprise." she replied. "Alvis worked as the seer for my father, back when the High Entia lived in solitude."

"Seer... Alvis did mention that, but he said he worked for an Emperor..." Siesta trailed off as she recalled some of the tales the Homs shared with the party. "But, wouldn't that make you?"

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I?" the High Entia realised, before taking a curtsy. "My name is Melia Antiqua, the one whom would be called Empress of the High Entia, had our kindom not fallen during the battle with the Bionis."

The students fell completely silent, to call them shocked would be a great understatement. Hastily, they went to bow before her, only for the High Entian to raise a hand in protest. "There is no need for that, as I said, Alcamoth has long since fallen. These days I am just another person living amongst friends."

Once again, the three were left in an awkward silence.

* * *

The group consisting of Guiche, Montmorency and Tabitha looked on as Meyneth stood in a crowd of her people, all surprised and beside themselves with joy to see their Goddess again. It is easy to say that the scene before them was heart-warming.

Though the trio weren't alone in their observation, off to their side was a middle aged man, brown eyes fixed on the scene before noticing the Halkeginians, whom took note on his appearance. This man's pants were a dark brown, complimented by his well worn combat boots, and a white shirt + cravat combo under a red vest, a head of brown hair with a small beard and a black cape, much akin to the ones the students wore, over his right arm. Noticing he had drawn the attention of these newcomers, the man strolled over to the students, whom turned their attention elsewhere in fear of insulting him, though not in the case of Tabitha, as she had yet to take her eyes from her book. If they were to describe this stranger in a single word, it would be handsome.

"Pardon me, but I don't think I've seen you three before." he spoke, tone friendly yet laced with experience. "Did you arrive with lady Meyneth?"

The students were caught off guard by the man, yet Tabitha was the only one with enough sense remaining to respond, giving a simple nod.

"I see. So tell me, where to you come from, that you are able to travel with someone long thought dead?" the man followed up, placing his left index finger on his chin, but never once moving his right arm.

Guiche was the one to speak up this time. "W..well, sir, we come from the Tristain Magic Academy, though I doubt you've heard of it, since sir Alvis said we crossed dimensions to get here..." he nervously said, several words getting the strangers attention.

"Well, I can't say I know of this Tristain, but... Alvis? And crossing dimensions? This leaves too many questions for my liking." the Homs mused. "Ah, but where are my manners, I still should introduce myself." he bowed politely as he crossed his left arm over his chest, the humans noticing his right arm was controlled more by gravity than his muscles. "My name is Dunban, pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Ah, yes, likewise..." Guiche responded. "I'm Guiche de Gramont, and this is Montmorency Margarita la Fère de Montmorency and Tabitha." he introduced in order. While Guiche was one to feel somewhat above those he thought as commoners, the amount of experience he could see in Dunban's eyes told him not to do so.

"I see, I'll make sure to remember." Dunban turned his eyes back to the crowd of Machina, before a thought popped into his head. "If you can, would you be able to tell me where Alvis is at the moment?"

"Looking for someone." Tabitha said plainly. "Needed to confirm how many Monado's exist."

Once again, Dunban was caught off guard by words alone. "The Monado? To my knowledge, Shulk still has the one he used to defeat Zanza, and Alvis should have the other two..." he mused, left hand stroking his chin while the fingers on his right hand twitched. "Well, I can guess where Alvis will have headed off to, and since Meyneth's going to be here for a while, you may as well join me."

Any objection they may have had to Dunban becoming a sort of party leader for their small team went unspoken as they trotted off towards their destination.

* * *

Alvis placed the document back on the top of the pile he found it on, a small smile on his face. "He truly has furthered his knowledge on the Monado, it's almost scary." he told himself, noticing footsteps coming from outside.

From the entrance came the one Homs he was looking for, followed by a Nopon that Alvis immediately recognised. The Homs was somewhat on the scrawny build, slightly messy blonde hair and blue eyes, his clothing consisting of a brown sweater and shorts combo with a red vest over it. The Nopon, as with all of them, barely came up to the knees of the Homs, his fur blonde with some red highlights and large brown eyes, a cross shaped scar on his belly and a blue vest designed to accommodate both his nubby arms and wing like appendages.

"Shulk, why you make Riki help take care of Reyn? Riki no like stupid Homhom." the Nopon, Riki, complained to the Homs ahead of him.

"Now, Riki, it's not polite to say mean things about someone who's not here." the blonde, Shulk, responded with a smile. "Besides, you are the oldest male in our party, so just think of him as one of your littlepons."

"Mou, Riki don't think that would work..."

"I'm with the Nopon on this one, seeing Reyn as a 'littlepon' is all too weird." Alvis interjected, surprising the duo. "Long time since we last met, hasn't it, Shulk?" the AI gave his signature wave in greeting.

"Alvis! When did you get to Colony 9?" Shulk exclaimed his surprise as Riki performed a leaping hug on the silver haired Homs.

"Only a few hours ago, you could say I've been roped into some interesting business." he explained, returned the hug one handed. "Though I fear it might get more serious than just 'interesting'."

Shulk gave Alvis a look to continue. "The moment I saw the Monado here, I knew for a fact it would not be getting better."

"Alvy, why do you have Monado?" Riki asked, patting the red sword on Alvis' back.

"That's part of the problem, you see." Alvis had a certain glint in his eyes as he put Riki down, one Shulk had verily seen before. "You had best gather up your party, it'll be easier to explain if I only have to do it once."

Giving a nod, Shulk picked up the Monado that sat on its pedestal, strapping it to his back, before addressing Alvis. "Then lead on."

With a nod, Alvis lead the two outside, only to be met with a team of four lead by Dunban. "Well, it seems my assumption was right." said Homs stated. "But judging by Shulk having the Monado, it's serious."

"Indeed, I'll explain when we meet with the others." Alvis responded.

This new team of seven went off towards the colony centre, in hopes of finding the rest of both parties.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Author: (Strange moaning of exhaustion)**

_**Alvis: Yes, as you can see, the Author has been struggling with his constant writers blocks, so as you can see/hear/read, his brain is currently on meltdown.**_

**Author: (Continued sounds)**

_**Alvis: So I guess I'll just be handling this part myself, then. Now, as you have read, there are now four Monado's, what does this mean? I can't say, because that would be spoilers.**_

_**The important part of this A/N section, though, is when might the next chapter be? Well, as it is evident, we don't know, the Author will probably be stepping back from this project and trying to write something else for a while, while also making an attempt here or there to get the next chapter going. Though there was a bigger gap between chapters 2 and 3, spanning a month and a half, even a block this short can fry a guys brain.**_

_**Still, stay tuned, for whenever this next updates, but for now, I shall leave you with a vision.**_

* * *

_To come in the future..._

"_Every world exist because there is the need for balance in the multiverse." Alvis spoke, before him standing thirteen people. "And from what I can tell, each one has its own key to controlling the energy it produces, its own Monado..."_

_.._

"_No way..." Shulk stood in shock. "Why is that here?"_

_.._

_A blonde man, not unlike Shulk in appearance, stood before the fourteen. "Behold, children of Bionis and Halkeginia, I am your true God."_

_.._

"_No longer am I content with standing of the sidelines..." Alvis muttered, his new anger building. "Come, I shall see this one to the end personally!"_


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: New Info and Comrades

* * *

Fourteen people, each of different backgrounds, sat at a round table. One of the most ideal places for meetings, as Alvis had stated.

To his immediate right sat Shulk, the leader of the heroes whom defeated the Zanza and the Bionis, going down his side sat a blonde Homs, Fiora, a large red haired Homs, Reyn, Dunban, a black haired girl name Sharla, Melia and finally Riki at the end. To his left sat the humans of Halkeginia, in order of Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche, Montmorency and Siesta.

"Since we are all accounted for, let us start with what we know." the AI said. "Shulk, if you would."

Nodding, Shulk took the blue Monado from his back and placed it on the table, following suit, Alvis condensed Ether in both his hands and formed similar weapons. In his right hand was a large, elaborate design of steel grey and red, almost too fancy to be called a sword, and in his left was a blade in a more practical design, its colour scheme being lighter steel grey and blue, the complete antithesis of the prior sword. Gently, Alvis placed the two beside Shulk's Monado. "What you all see before you are the three Monado's. Shulk's," he motioned to the clear blue Monado. "Zanza's," the red. "And Meyneth's." the grey. "Originally, there were only the Monado's of Zanza and Meyneth, and after Shulk's journey, his was added to that list. I suppose you all know what the problem is now."

"The fourth Monado." Louise continued plainly. "The one that Headmaster Osmond found and named the Staff of Destruction."

In acknowledgement to the statement, Alvis took the Monado from his back and placed it amongst the others, in comparison, it was smaller. "Every world exist because there is the need for balance in the multi-verse. And from what I can tell, each one has its own key to controlling the energy it produces, its own Monado... The problem with this is the simple fact that we currently have less of an idea as to where this fourth one has originated from, though I do have half a hunch at best."

"Half a hunch is better than nothing, Alvis." Dunban stated. "Tell us what you believe."

"To sum up a long story, the land of Halkeginia has had locations from the Bionis appearing out of the blue. It was because of this strange anomaly that we were able to find Meyneth." Alvis said. "What I'm thinking, is that this new Monado is one created for the world of Halkeginia, with the arrival of a new God to its lands."

"And you think it might belong to Meyneth?" Fiora asked from Shulk's other side.

"If I thought that, I wouldn't be so worried. But the appearance of parts of the Bionis make me think it's more to do with Zanza." every one on Shulk's side of the table paled, though the Halkeginian's were left more than a little confused. "But for Zanza to be back, just how did he pull it off?"

"Well, considering Zanza is the God of the Bionis, I'm not at all surprised that he'd be able to do something like this." Sharla voiced her opinion, which made sense amongst the Homs/High Entian/Nopon/AI-Homs side of the table, but once more, the humans on the left were greatly confused.

Of particular note, Montmorency seemed to be quite agitated throughout the conversation, and Guiche feeling somewhat afraid, not that he could be blamed.

This aggravated was not unnoticed by Alvis, whom put his AI abilities to use and found the most logical solution. "Well, since we have established what we know, let us take a quick brake to understand it on our own terms."

* * *

Montmorency paced the beach with a pout on her face, this entire situation not sitting right with her.

And not the whole 'potential threat to the entire world' thing, either. It was the fact that she, a noble of the house Montmorency, was being forced to work alongside commoners, and on top of that, having to take orders from one who considers himself a sort of demi-god.

In her thoughts, she failed to notice the tall red haired man until after she walked into him.

"Whoa, careful there, kid." the giant man, Reyn, spoke first. "It's dangerous to not pay attention to where you're goin'."

The noble merely looked away with a huff. "I did not give you permission to talk to me, commoner." she told the Homs, venom quite clearly lacing her voice.

Rather than feeling threatened, Reyn slumped his shoulders with a sigh. "Aw, come on, we're on the same team here. The least we could do is try to get along." as if realising something, the Homs pounded his fist into his open hand. "Ah, right, I don't think I've introduced myself, ey?" the Homs held out an open hand to the girl. "Name's Reyn, I work as forward defence for Shulk's party."

Montmorency looked at the hand with disdain, before glaring at the Homs. "Do not think we will be working together, you uncultured brute." the noble turned and began to walk away. "If you truly think you are worth my time, then be prepare to do exactly as I instruct."

"Sheesh, you're worse than Melia when we first met her." Reyn scratched the back of his head. "Look, kid, you should put a bit more faith in the ones who've got the experience. That noble title of yours ain't gonna do ya much good against any Kyel Lexos."

Montmorency halted in her tracks, and glared daggers at Reyn. "Plebian, are you implying that I, a noble of the house Montmorency, skilled in water magic, would ever think of needing your help?"

Reyn had the feeling he should stop talking, but continued anyway. "Well, yeah, considering the Lexos are quite powerful..." a torrent of water hit him directly in the face, stopping him from continuing that thought.

Montmorency, wand drawn, began charging another spell. "Then I will show you your place, you filthy peasant!"

With his left hand, Reyn scratched his cheek sheepishly, while his right hand move behind him and drew his weapon, the Vangarre Driver. "Yet I barely felt that..." he muttered as he took his stance.

* * *

From the pier on the beach, the sunset was quite beautiful. Even in a completely different world, Kirche couldn't help but admire it. In her solitude, she took in the sound of the waves.

"It is quite the sight, isn't it?" the voice of Dunban took the Germanian from her thoughts. "My little sister usual comes here when she has something on her mind."

Kirche gave a sultry smile to the Homs. "Oh? I didn't peg you for the caring older brother type."

"Of course I am, she's the only blood family I have." Dunban responded. "But then again, I do have a sort of father role for Shulk and Reyn." he turned his eyes to the nobles. "Fiora comes here when she's thinking about Shulk, so I'm guessing you're in a similar situation?"

All the flirty nature in her smile vanished, and was replaced with slight sorrow. "You are good at this, sir Dunban."

"Well, if you're not comfortable talking about it, I could just guess what's troubling you." Dunban offered, and was met with a challenging look in the nobles eyes. "Let's see... You are in love with someone you thought you wouldn't be, even in your wildest dreams. You are afraid that they will not love you back because of... a history you have? You feel that the problems your families have, and the actions you took against them will cause heart ache. Am I wrong?"

The Germanian noble went wide eyed. "You... actually got it all right... how did you do that?" she asked in her shock.

Dunban let off a chuckle. "I've spent most of Shulk and Fiora's lives trying to get them together, so I think I might be a qualified match-maker."

"I see..." Kriche crossed her arms, looking back out to the sunset. "In that case, when all this is over, I'll make sure to tell them how I feel."

"I wouldn't leave it to the absolute end, if I were you." Dunban added. "You never know when things can go south."

The sound of high pressure water slamming against metal caught their attention, as they turned to the beach to watch the battle unfolding before them.

* * *

A deluge surrounded the Homs male, yet rather than panic, like the mage expected him to, he analysed the situation, and began working on a counter measure. Measuring the distance from himself to the edge of the water, Reyn concluded that it was roughly 3.5 metres.

To the Homs, these parameters were acceptable.

"Hammer..." Reyn raised the Driver up high, before slamming it into the ground. "Beat!" the shock-wave rippled through the sand and air, colliding with the wall of water, and making it dissipate.

Shocked, Montmorency caste four balls of water out to surround Reyn, and from each of these orbs, a jet of water shot towards the Homs.

Grabbing the Driver with his other hand, Reyn held it perpendicular to his body. "War Swing!" he shouted as he began to spin around, the blade on his Driver having enough force that not only did each stream break, but the air pressure was enough to destabilise the orbs themselves.

The mage could only look shocked as the Homs continued to counter each of her attacks in a mechanical rhythm.

"How... how can a mere commoner stand against a noble?" Montmorency questioned in disbelief as the Homs walked across soaked sand to sand in front of her.

"Listen, kid, it ain't a matter of how your born, or what abilities you have to lord over others. It's about what you can do in the moment that really makes the difference." Reyn told her, as if telling of a child. "Now, let's try this again..." he stabbed his Driver into the ground, and held out his hand. "My name is Reyn, might I ask what yours is?"

Montmorency, in her bewilderment, took the Homs' hand. "It's Montmorency... runic name... The Fragrance."

* * *

Back on the pier, Kirche looked quite surprised, while Dunban had a proud look on his face. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone outside of Alvis defeat a noble before." Kirche muttered.

"Alvis is quite the steep comparison, but then again, he didn't have to fight an actual God." Dunban commented.

"And to think, after she attacked him out of the blue, he'd just out right forgive her like that."

"Reyn may not be the smartest one out of us all, but he more than makes up for it with how large his heart is." Dunban chuckled. "And besides, I was one of the people whom taught him how to fight."

"You're old enough to teach them?" Kirche asked jokingly.

"I'm old enough that I've been mistaken as his, Shulk's and Fiora's father." He chuckled once more.

* * *

"Mou... Riki hungry..." said Nopon rubbed his belly as it rumbled, trying hard not to jump at the smell of the food Siesta was cooking.

To Riki's left sat Shulk, to his right was Fiora, and ahead of him was Louise, with Sharla and Tabitha on her right. "Now, Riki, that's hardly proper table manners." Sharla commented, lightly tapping the Nopon on the head.

Shulk laughed at the banter between the two, yet noticed Louise looking away from the Nopon shyly. "Louise? Is everything alright?" he asked her, pointing out the light blush on her cheeks.

"Huh?" Louise snapped out of her trance. "Uh... Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" she spoke quickly, while trying not to let her eyes fall on Riki.

Sharla noticed this, and smirked rather mischievously. "Riki, I think Louise here might want a hug from you." she told the Nopon, who's eyes lit up.

"Wa... wait, I don't..." Louise stammered out, before she was pounced upon by the living ball of fluff.

"Riki like hugs!" the Nopon shouted as he cuddled the noble, whom tried to struggle away from it, before losing herself to the softness of his fur. After a few minutes, and Siesta walking in, Louise put Riki back down on his seat and straighten her cloak.

"Shulk, was it?" Louise spoke up over the sound of Riki eating. "I've been meaning to ask, just who or what is this Zanza person?"

"Zanza, huh." Shulk looked solemn, sharing the look with Sharla. "He's someone I wish we could all forget, but all things considered, I know it's impossible."

Shulk began to recollect everything he remembered. "I'm sure you remember Alvis talking about how Zanza is, or was, a God, so we'll skip over that part. Originally, Zanza was a scientist known as Klaus, whom worked on what I believe is called 'project E.T.H.E.R.', he was a colleague of Lady Meyneth as well. It was this project that brought about the creation of the Bionis and Mechonis, and made them both Gods of those titans.

"In a way, Zanza is the God that controls fate itself." Shulk held his hand out, and caste Light Heal, making a small white glow appear in his hand. "All life on Bionis is linked to Ether, the blood of the Bionis, and it flows in a sort of rhythm. Those whom wield the Monado can observe, and therefore predict the fluctuations to come. In essence, see the future."

Putting his hand back down, Shulk turned his gaze to the Monado leaning on the wall. "But... if Zanza is the controller of fate, how did you win?" Siesta asked.

"If you see a future you don't like, you fight it." Shulk said bluntly. "If there's one thing our journey taught us, it's that nothing is set in stone. All you need to fight fate is the will to stand against it, and the power to overcome it."

"You make it sound like we had it easy." Fiora commented with a laugh.

"Do I? Sorry about that." he apologised. "On paper it might seem simple, but fate is a raging river, and everything we do to change it is nothing more than small rocks in comparison."

"Then how..." Louise went to ask, but was cut off by Riki, of all people.

"Throw enough stones into river, and eventually Hom-Hom will block water." Riki said in as mature a voice as his little body could muster.

"Riki's right, you just have to be persistant." Sharla added. "And besides, it's not like you're doing this alone."

* * *

The fourteen had reconvened at their round table after a few hours of bonding, and were seated in the same order as before.

Alvis stood first. "Now, I suppose it all comes down to this. Here we must make a choice; either we make the journey to Halkeginia as one team, and face whatever threatens those lands, or be go back to our old lives." his gaze moved from person to person. "The choice is with all of you."

Fiora was the first to stand. "I don't think there's much of a choice to the matter." she drew one of her knives and placed it on the table. "I think it's safe to say that we're all in."

Shulk rose next, placing his Monado down, followed by Reyn, Sharla, Dunban, Melia and Riki, though the last of them had to stand on the table for emphasis. "Fiora's right. If Zanza is really back, then he will be a threat to us all." Shulk stated.

The AI allowed himself a small smile, before turning to his left. "And what of you, my Master and allies? If you should choose to fight, then there is a good chance you'll die."

Most of the Halkeginian's hesitated, with the first to stand being Louise and Siesta, followed shortly by Montmorency, Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche, in said order. "If something is threatening our homes..." Louise started. "Then you can be sure we'll beat it back into the ground!"

"I see, very well then..." Alvis allowed his smile to grow just a bit more. "Tomorrow morning, we will meet at the pier, and from there we shall begin our journey to defeat Zanza."

* * *

**A/N**

**Author: Man, it's been a while. Well, as of writing this, Happy New Year!**

_**Alvis: Considering that last time you were here, all you did was make indescribable sounds, this is a nice change in pace.**_

**Author: Cut me some slack, writers blocks are a pain. Though, for the most part, the reason I haven't been updating all that much is because I've got many other projects as well, so sue me.**

_**Alvis: Regardless, we're here now, and that's what matters.**_

**Author: Aye, that it is.**

**Well, in any case, all I can say about this chapter is that I tried to focus on building bonds between the cast of FoZ and Xenoblade.**

**So, since I don't have much to say, here's the preview, and we'll see you all next time.**

* * *

_Preview:_

_A horde of Aura Antols surrounded Fiora and Guiche. "What do we do now?" Guiche asked, as a smirk crept onto Fiora's face._

_The remaining Mechon parts in her body churned to life. "Shifting into second gear!"_

…

"_The Havres?" Louise asked, directing her question at Melia._

"_They were intended to be anti-Mechon weapons, though now that they're not a problem, we salvaged what we could in case they were needed." the High Entia told her, looking at the machines._

…

_Shulk looked somewhat confused. "Reconquista? What's that? And why are you so surprised to hear that they're wanting to aid?"_


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: There and Back again

* * *

The sun had just started to peek over the horizon, a new day was dawning.

Shulk, in all his worry, was one of the first ones to wake on this particular day. The Homs had long thought he'd put Zanza behind him, that he could finally relax without the threat of Telethia or Mechon looming over him.

And now, another world was faced with the former of those two problems.

It seemed to have become a sort of tradition, but whenever a problem arose, someone found themselves looking out over the ocean, and now it was Shulk's turn.

Well, not his turn alone.

The moment the blonde Homs arrived on the beach, he noticed Alvis and Louise, staring at the rising sun, and couldn't help but over hear their conversation.

"This will be a hard battle, Louise." Alvis spoke. "Are you sure you and the others would not rather stay here, where it is safe?"

"Alvis..." Louise tried to keep a lid on her temper. Key word being 'tried', as she punched the silver haired Homs on the arm. "Even if the odds are stacked against us, I WILL NOT back down just because some blonde idiot with a God complex is threatening everyone."

Alvis gave a slight shrug. "Well, you can't blame me for worrying. After all, Zanza is more along the lines of 'blonde idiot whom is actually a God'."

"Yet you acknowledge him as an idiot?"

"Well, to be fair," Shulk decided to chime in, surprising the two. "Zanza was trying to destroy all life, so that he'd be the true God of everything. So even I'd agree that he's missing a few screws."

Alvis gave off a slight chuckle. "So, you're also having rough thoughts?"

"When you've lived most of your life with such a person inside your head, you can't help but get worried when they return after they died."

Louise seemed more than a little confused by the choice of words. "'Inside your head'? Do I want to know what that means?"

Shulk laughed lightly. "It's just as confusing as I'm making it out to be."

Louise pouted, but then a thought popped into her head. "Say, if you two can see the future, then can't you check to see if we win? And if we don't where we can make corrections?"

"That would be a good idea," the blonde responded. "However..."

"There is something blocking us." Alvis finished. "It's somewhat ironic, really, since when Zanza was defeated, I was the one blocking him."

"Blocking?" Louise questioned.

"It's like he says." Shulk decided to explain. "It's almost as if the Ether flow is getting cut off."

Louise was about to question it, yet felt she it was going to be way too much effort to just understand it all.

* * *

The rest of the party had awoken not long after the three, and were now gathered just outside the colony.

"So, we are agreed on the plan?" Alvis spoke first, holding the Halkeginian Monado in his hand. "Shulk, Melia, Riki and Sharla will stay behind in order to collect the Havres, while the rest of us will make our trip back to make sure everything's still standing."

"Havres?" Louise directed her question primarily to Melia.

"They were intended to be anti-Mechon weapons, though now that they're not a problem, we salvaged what we could in case they were needed." the High Entia told her.

"Considering we're dealing with a continental sized... humanoid... thing." Sharla struggled with the terminology to describe the Bionis. "We're going to be needing as much fire power as we can get."

"Well, with that out of our way," Alvis held the Monado high, the blade hummed to life, and the way to the Sentient Genesis was opened. "We shall see you three in due course."

* * *

The moment the party arrived in Halkeginia, the first thing that assaulted their senses was the smell of burning.

Secondly, despite the fact that it was clearly day, there was a very clear, looming darkness.

"Tell me, Louise." Alvis began. "Are eclipses common on your world? Or should we worry about this being something else?"

"I think I see what the problem is." Reyn said before Louise could answer, pointing at what was blocking out the sun. Indeed, in the way, was...

"The Bionis." Dunban stated plainly. "How did we not notice that sooner?"

Alvis couldn't help but agree with the Homs. After all, it was a continental sized giant. _'And my first thought was an eclipse? I must be off my game.'_ he thought slightly bitterly as he looked over the rest of the party.

As expected, the people native to Halkeginia were down right terrified at the sight of the Bionis, and the Homs looked scared, but at the same time, slightly irritated for the same reasons as himself.

The rustling in the bushes drew their attention, and just as they had full view of the source, several spider like creatures sprung forth.

"Aura Antols!" Dunban shouted. "Scatter!"

And so, the party was split into four separate groups, going separate ways as the Antols scuttled after them.

* * *

Dunban and Tabitha were the first to halt in their tracks, having realised that the Antols had cut them off.

"Well, this is a fine predicament." the Homs commented as he drew his katana.

One of the creatures leapt at the duo, only to be skewered by an icicle. "Strange creatures." Tabitha quietly said. "Dangerous."

Two more Antols lunged, only to be met with the edge of Dunban's blade. "Yeah, and unfortunately, they're not the worst the Bionis has to offer."

As more Aura Antols were slain, twice as many seemed to take their place, putting a strain the stamina of both Homs and Halkeginian.

And within just a few short moments, Dunban noticed a particular opening in the Antols' formation. "Our time is now!" he shouted, as his blade was covered in a pinkish aura.

It took Tabitha a few seconds to realise just what Dunban had planned, the clincher being that all the monsters around them had now turned their sights to him. With a wave of her staff, Tabitha let out a howling blizzard, drastically slowing down the Antols.

The Homs smirked, as the grip on his sword tightened. "Born in a world of strife!" one swing, and several Antols fell. "Against the odds!" a second slice, and twice as many were slain. "We choose to fight!" a two hit combo, and only a small handful remained. "Blossom Dance!" with a leap and a twirl, the last of the Antols fell to his blade.

The two shared a look of approval, a nod, and began running to find the rest of the party.

* * *

Antol upon Antol pounced at the trio of Reyn, Montmorency and Siesta, and each one bounced off the shield mode of Reyn's weapon.

"We can't hold this spot forever," the water mage shouted, blasting a few foes away. "We need to regroup!"

"Yeah, easier said than done!" Reyn responded, slicing through a pair of Antols, though no matter how many fell, twice as many sprouted. The attacks continued for quite a while, and the Homs was starting to grow increasingly tired, guarding the two females from the Antols.

The trio were hard pressed for some form of breathing space, a luxury that an ambushing enemy did not wish to give them. One Antol latched onto the Homs' Gunlance, and was only removed when a torrent of water struck it.

Things were not looking good for this team of soldier, mage and maid. "Shulk, you'd better hurry up."

* * *

Guiche and Fiora were having... somewhat more luck in comparison to Reyn's group, though only in the sense that they lacked a non-combatant. Of course, the 'somewhat' in the equation came in the form of the two, plus the three bronze golems Guiche had summoned, being completely surrounded by the Antol horde.

Guiche was, quite frankly, quivering in his boots. "S...So," he began with a stutter, "any idea about how we'll get out of this?"

A smirk found its way onto the Homs' face, and Guiche heard what could only be described as metal turning from her body.

Following the original defeat of Zanza, Fiora went into a sort of stasis, during which her Homs body was restored, but it was not a 100% restoration, as she managed to retain many of her abilities as a Face unit.

Not that she was complaining.

"Shifting into second gear!" a feeling of her joints loosening overcame her, and she darted at the Antols. Before any of them could react, her knives made their way from one to the other.

Guiche was quite mesmerised by the sight, akin to watching waves hit rocks, and dragging them back out to sea. Many Antols still remained, but the ones in the immediate area were downed fifteen seconds after Second Gear was enabled.

"Well," she stated, twirling her knives, "shall we move on?"

* * *

This day was not turning out as Alvis had anticipated, and for someone who could see the future, that was a statement to be worried by.

The Antols did not pose much of a threat to him, or to Louise or Kirche, his current party, but their numbers had him concerned.

There was also the looming threat of the Bionis. They were only gone for a day, so why was it upright now, all of a sudden? Well, there was no telling just how long the Bionis was dormant in these lands, so he may have just arrived at the end of that stasis.

Another Antol exploded before him, and the next question came to mind: If there were this many Antols roaming around, what else is in these lands, attacking its people?

Alvis was, generally, an apathetic guy, and it would take someone like Shulk to really get his attention on something as fleeting as a mortal, but this entire situation had him concerned.

Perhaps his time with Kallian had made him soft.

With claymore and Monado in hand, he cleaved the life from each Antol that charged. With fire and explosives dancing around him, he felt safe.

"Just how many of these things are there?" Kirche called out, frying another Antol. "They just keep coming."

"Antols generally travel in large hordes, and this just happens to be on the bigger end of that spectrum." Alvis responded.

From the brush, Dunban and Tabitha emerged, tearing through the foes with ease. Following them shortly was the trio of Reyn, Montmorency and Siesta, being chased by a large number of Antols, and shortly thereafter, Fiora and Guiche.

"Looks like the gang's all here." Dunban commented rather casually.

Alvis went to respond, but in that split second, his eyes flashed blue. "Duck!" he shouted, and everyone was smart enough to follow through with the order.

The moment following, two large, silver machines shot forward, blowing the Antols away. The machines landed, and from them, the remaining four members of their party were spotted on them.

Balancing Riki on his head, Shulk gave them a thumbs up. "Looks like we're just in time, huh?"

The signal was returned by Alvis.

* * *

The Havres were quite the peculiar machination, as far as the Halkeginians knew of them. They were not as big as the airships that they were use to, but just one alone could fit all fourteen of them with plenty of leg room, the only reason they had two was because there was strength in numbers.

There was also the fact that they did not run on Wind Stones, the power source that the airships used, and instead used this Ether stuff. Louise was starting to wonder if there was anything Ether couldn't do.

Alvis was looking over a map of Halkeginia, pondering their next move. He made note of how similar the land looked to Europe from the original world. He turned his head to the port side, and noticed the series of airships travelling from a tower of smoke. _'The creatures of the Bionis must have ravaged that town.'_ he concluded, as he traced his finger from their point on the map, to the town, and then in the direction the ships were travelling, concluding that they were moving towards the land labelled Albion.

He could see Albion from here, and it was in the sky.

The AI had seen many things in his time, but a floating island was just plain weird. But then again, there was Prison Island.

"Alvis," Melia called from the helm, "where are we heading to?"

The AI rubbed his chin, before reaching an answer. "We'll make to rendezvous with those ships a ways off," he pointed in their direction, "from there, we'll assess the damage the Bionis has caused, and most likely make for the battle with Zanza."

"Nice and simple plan," Reyn commented, "I like it."

"Of course you would, Reyn." Sharla commented, punching the Homs on the shoulder.

Everyone could share in a bit of laughter from that simple situation, and honestly, in this dire situation, why wouldn't you try to find some sort of joy?

"Well, we'd best grab onto something," Alvis spoke, grabbing the nearest handrail, "and make as much wind as we can."

Yet before they could get under way, torrential winds stuck the Havres, knocking all off balance. Attempting to regain balance, Alvis' conciousness slipped into the future for a few seconds. "Above us!" he shouted, eyes connecting with large beast that descended to the level of the Havres.

The Homs was honestly expecting a Telethia, and to be frank, he may have preferred one. The creature before them had the body of a red lion, the face of a man, teeth of a shark, tail of a scorpion, and the wings of a bat. Alvis was thankful that his wide database allowed him to identify the creature as a Manticore instantly, but even someone as powerful as he and Shulk's group would be against the wall in this situation.

What added to the fear was the fact that it was someone's mount, and the one riding it was glaring at them with such ferocity, everyone was wondering which was scarier.

"So, Louise Françoise, you disappear for three weeks, while the world is going to hell, and this is what you have to offer for it?" the woman spoke, looking like a much older Louise. A much older, far angrier Louise.

Louise visibly shrunk, and the pressure this woman was excreting made even Dunban break into sweat. "Mo... mother," Louise stammered out, trying to find a way to portray just what she had been doing.

"Save it, child," Karin Desiree shot a glare, winds wrapping around her wand-sword. "Tristain law is blunt on the subject of deserters..."

Half way through her speech, Shulk foresaw the fight to come.

Although, calling it a fight was putting it kindly.

"_The sentence is death." Karin finished, thrusting her sword forward, and a spear of twisted wind shot out._

_Art: Heavy Wind._

_Target: Both Havres._

_Damage: Incalculable._

_Result: Death to all._

The moment the vision ended, Shulk drew the Monado from his back, a green symbol appearing in the circle of its hilt.

"The sentence is death." Karin finished, thrusting her sword.

"No escape..." Shulk dashed forward, blade drawn back, and shouted, "Monado Purge!"

The blade was swung, and a wave of green energy shot towards Karin, meeting the wind spear head on.

The Heavy Wind spell dissipated as the vision shattered.

The Manticore dodged as the wave of Ether continued as if the spear had never been there. "Listen, miss," Shulk called as he landed, "Louise didn't run away, she and Alvis came to us for help, because we've faced this problem before! We're on the same side!"

"He's right, lady Karin!" Guiche followed up, "These people are familiar with... whatever that thing is!"

"Preposterous," she shot back, glare shifting between the two blondes, "what could a bunch of children, commoners, no less, be able to do against such forces?"

Alvis took a few steps forward. "Will you really not listen to reason, Karin?"

"There is no reason in what you say," she spat, "only naïve foolishness."

"Why can it never be easy?" Melia commented, pressing a series of buttons on the console before her. The hull of the Havres began to hum, a series of green pulses began to emanate from it, until it reached a pace where it was a solid green field, at least 15ft in diameter. "Ether Plains have been deployed, I guess we'll have to knock some sense into this one."

Alvis smiled slightly as he took the Monado from his back, and lent it against the railing. The Ether Plain was an idea he originally proposed to Lorithia, though she immediately writ it off, but he did observe Melia finding the old blueprints. It was a rather simple idea, that involved concentrating Ether around the source, and making an elevated platform from it. Alvis leapt over the side of the ship, and landed soundly on the new foothold. Looks as if she made it work. Drawing his claymore, Shulk, Dunban, Kirche, Riki and Montmorency followed him onto the Plain, with Sharla taking aim from the other Havres along with Tabitha.

"Do you really think you can challenge me?" Karin asked, a series of different wind spells lining themselves up in her mind.

"Well, we do stand a good chance." Alvis commented with his usual shrug. "And don't bother bringing Fate into this," his eyes narrowed as they met Karin's, "after all, I learnt from these people that Fate is a cowards tool."

The six began their charge, fire, water, and ice flying towards Karin, as each shot was met by one of her own. When the three swordsmen made it to her, she managed to block and dodge each of their strikes with ease.

Fighting a Telethia was becoming more and more appealing as the battle went on.

Even with Sharla and Tabitha providing long ranged support, landing a hit on Karin and her Manticore was like stabbing a dragonfly with a rapier. It wasn't long before the two young mages were exhausted, unable to fling any more spells. Even with the power of the Monado, Shulk and Alvis struggled to balance their offence and defence. Dunban and Riki were not having much luck either, as they lacked the range and practicality that the others had.

From the sidelines, Guiche, Fiora, Siesta, and Reyn all cursed themselves for not being able to help, Guiche for the simple fact that Earth magic was impossible this high up, and the other three for lack of any ranged tactics. Melia tried to provide support where she could, but fighting and managing two Havres at the same time was a tough feet.

And then there was Louise.

On one hand, she was understandably terrified, this was Karin the Heavy Wind, after all, and her own mother. She wanted to help them desperately, but she doubted her explosions would do much against a professional.

She cursed herself, cursed her uselessness, and above all, cursed having to be a 'Zero'.

Then she realised something.

The Monado, the one she previously knew as the 'Staff of Destruction', was right next to her.

Alvis left it there, but why? It made no sense to her, it made no sense to anyone.

Then, something Alvis mentioned came back to her: The Monado chooses it wielders. She recalled what happened when Forquet grabbed it, then she remember that it didn't happen to herself, the Monado considered her worthy.

It didn't consider her a 'Zero'.

Then, there was Alvis' action from the day he was summoned as her Familiar. All this time, he was patient, helpful even. Where everyone else mocked her, he sort to understand the cause of her problems, and find the solution.

Well, they didn't really have a solution, but they did learn quite a bit.

Alvis was the first person outside of her sister and, to a lesser extent, her father, to try to properly help her.

Then there was her mother... whom did little to comfort her.

An unusual emotion began to boil in the depths of Louise's gut, something she didn't think she'd ever feel towards her own mother.

Contempt.

With hand shaky from either fear or anger, Louise grabbed the Monado, and felt it hum in her grip.

She heard Siesta call out to her, but Louise was beyond the point of no return.

And she leapt over the railing.

_A vision played before her eyes._

_A wind spear had been launched, its target, Kirche._

_A damage read out played at the top of her vision, calculated into numbers._

_Louise wasn't sure she could count that high._

_The result was Kirche becoming a pile of gore on the side of the Havres._

And she would not allow it.

The spear launched, and this time, Louise stood before it, a familiar yellow symbol appeared in the Monado, and the wind broke on the shield that formed.

Everyone was left breathless, Karin especially. "I'm done..." Louise muttered softly, "I'm done just... putting up with it all."

Karin recollected herself. "And just what do you hope to do? All you've accomplished is blocking one of my weaker spells."

"Shut up!" she shouted, surprising Karin once more. "Do you even know what it's like? Zero this, Zero that, I'm tired of it!" the Monado flared even stronger than ever. "That's just the sort of thing I have to put up with at that Founder forsaken academy! And then there's you," her eyes locked with Karin's and the elder woman noticed the pure rage behind those amber orbs. "Always in your shadow, always being ridiculed for the slightest mistake, as if it's all my damn fault, like I had control over my screw ups!" the Monado was now engulfed entirely by its own light, and Louise felt its form shift in her hands.

"This is... phenomenal," Alvis put simply, feeling a proud smile etch itself on his face.

"This power," Shulk muttered in a mixture of pleasure and surprise, "she's unlocked the Monado II?"

"If you want to ask why I'm angry, mother... no, Karin," Louise continued, "it should be obvious. I'm angry at this blasted world, at the people who mocked me for problems beyond my control," Kirche, Guiche and Montmorency all winced in guilt. "But above all else, I'm angry at you," the light erupted from the Monado with the intensity of the sun, "You cold-hearted bint!"

**[Track Set: You Will Know Our Names]**

The light finally died down, and in Louise's hands was now a much larger Monado, in its default form, it was easier to call it a sword.

The parts shifted, and the blade of light shot forth, larger still. Not even bothering with giving Karin the benefit of responding, Louise charged, swinging wide. Karin blocked it, but the force was enough to knock her from her Manticore. Rising, Karin let loose several high level wind spears, not as strong as her Heavy Wind, but enough that, if it hit, Louise would most likely die.

Louise foresaw each shot, and dodged with millimetres to spare.

Watching the two duel was akin to watching a tornado meet the ocean, both were absolute, but only one was truly on the offensive. Karin tried to fight back, but she, of all people was being forced back by a mere child, her child! She never thought such a thing would be possible.

Alvis looked on in pleasant awe, for once again, human kind had shown him its power to overcome impossible odds. Still smiling, he turned to Kirche. "What do you say we help finish this game of charades?" he asked her.

Kirche returned the smile, lacking any of the usual flirtation. "Anything to not have to stand on this stuff longer."

Both charged forward, wand and claymore in hand, they clashed with Karin's spears of wind, and stood strong beside Louise. "You've been quite impressive over the past few minutes, Louise," Alvis commented, "but what do you say we overpower our enemy?"

Louise gave off a confident humph. "Well, your the boss." she said jokingly.

Alvis was surprised by this first, but didn't let it show. "Then, it's time for a Chain Attack."

The three charged, and Kirche launched a series of fireballs at the wind mage. Many were blocked, but exhaustion took its toll on Karin, and was hit by a few.

Chain 1X.

Alvis followed up with a favourite technique of his. "No escape... Cross Ray!" two slashes in an X pattern, both piercing the wind barrier, and leaving large scratches in the foes armour.

Chain 2X.

Louise didn't have as much variety in her repertoire, but what she did have was effective. Channelling her willpower into the Monado II, she cast a spell, fully expecting it to end in explosion, and it did just that, winding Karin greatly.

Chain 3X.

Kirche made her second move, forming a serpent of flames to trap Karin. As the Heavy Wind was still processing everything going on, the trap worked, and she could not properly move.

Chain 4X.

"Feel my power," Alvis muttered, deciding to use and Art that he had not touched upon for many centuries. "Lost Flash!" he dashed forward, through the flames, and hit Karin with several Ether infused slashed.

Chain MAX.

Louise browsed the powers she could use with the Monado. There were many options, as she was starting to learn. She could properly use any spell she could think of if she wanted, with how much Ether it could manipulate, but she chose against it, not properly knowing the full extent of the Monado's power. So instead, she settled on that blue symbol she saw back during the battle with Forquet. "Monado..." she muttered, and the blade extented two-fold, then ten-fold. She rose the blade high, the energy pulsing through her body with all her adrenalin. "BUSTER!" the blade was brought down, and had it not been for the remnants of the wind shield, Karin may have died that day.

**[Track End]**

The Ether blade retracted back into the Monado, the everyone's muscles finally started to loosen up. Karin was lying flat on her back, injured, but not out cold.

Louise's concious started to waver, and would have hit the floor if Kirche didn't catch her. Alvis motioned for the fire mage to take Louise back to the Havres, and walked over to the incapacitated Karin. "So, do you believe us now?"

"I suppose so," Karin moved her head to meet the Homs' gaze. "When did Louise become so..."

"Strong?" Shulk finished for her as he walked up. "She always was, she just never had the proper chance to prove it."

"And you, you're able to do the things she did?"

"To an extent," Shulk rubbed the back of his head, "honestly, it took me longer to make the Monado evolve into its second stage, and that required help from its creator, Louise managed it on her own."

"That Master of mine is really something, huh?" Alvis said. "Come on, let's get back to the Havres."

* * *

After a lot of healing, courtesy of Sharla, Montmorency, Riki (using his breath, it was rather disturbing for the native Halkeginians) and Tabitha, all the combatants were back at full health, and Karin had caught them up on what had happened over the past weeks (which seemed to translate into a day or two in the other world).

"So, not long after Alvis arrived, the Bionis rose, and began its attack." Shulk started his summarising, jotting it down in his journal. "And all kingdoms save for Albion were decimated, with barely a few hundred survivors per kingdom."

Kirche lent into Alvis' shoulder. "Does he always write out loud?"

"You'd have to ask Reyn or Fiora." he told her.

"He does." both responded instantly.

"Thankfully, Albion has opened its borders to the other kingdoms, and has a truce with the faction known as Reconquesta." Shulk placed a point at the end of the sentence. "But why do you speak of them with such disdain?"

"Because Reconquesta seeks to overthrow the rulers of Albion," Karin responded, nursing her still sore muscles. "at the very least, they have the common courtesy of not attacking with the bigger threat looming."

Alvis mused the information. "Melia, how are the Havres holding up?" he asked the High Entia.

"Quite well," was the response, "thankfully, no attack landed, and the Ether Plains didn't drain much fuel, so we'll easily be able to reach this Albion."

Karin nodded at the information. "Well, for what it's worth, I'll go on ahead, and inform the others of you lot." she made for her Manticore, but not before stopping next to the exhausted Louise. "Louise..." she hesitated slightly, trying to find the right words, "You did well."

And just like that, Karin was gone like the wind. Louise's hand trembled slightly, which quickly travelled up her entire body.

This was not rage, as it was before, and the others knew it. Only an idiot would be unable to tell the difference between anger and relief, after all.

Kirche and Dunban locked eyes, and the latter nodded. With slow steps, the red haired girl stood before Louise, and held her in a tight hug.

It resulted in Louise's head being smothered by Kirche's breasts.

Louise tried to question why the Germanian was doing this, but honestly, in her opinion, it was nice.

Even with the world on the brink of damnation, perhaps things were starting to look up for her.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Well, finally, am I right?**

**Sorry it took so long to get here, writers block, uni work, and just other writing projects really get in the way.**

**So, yeah, Karin showed up, Louise snapped, and combat related visions are seen with the in-game UI.**

**Also, I don't often recommend a certain track for a situation, but You Will Know Our Names fits all too well with Louise's moment of awesome.**

**I'll keep this short, not bother with a preview, and see those of you only here for this work... whenever I update it next, those whom read my other FoZ works there, and anyone else in my other works to come, which will have less to do with FoZ (because I really need to write other things).**

**'Till then.**


End file.
